Ets Alocs, Remote beach in Ferreries, Spain

Ets Alocs is a beach in Ferreries with a curved shoreline of pebbles backed by natural dunes. A seasonal stream runs through a wetland area behind the shore, creating varied ground.

The name comes from the Vitex Agnus Castus shrub that grows naturally in the area and held uses in traditional medicine. This connection to local plant knowledge shaped how people understood the coast.

The beach takes its name from the aloc, the Catalan word for the agnocasto (Vitex agnus-castus), an endemic shrub that grows in the area and is the main representative of the vegetation selected over the years by the strong Tramuntana wind. The surrounding landscape is the typical northern Menorcan one, with endemisms of great ecological value.

Access is via a turn-off from the Me-1 road between Maó and Ciutadella; a few kilometres past Ferreries the camí de tramuntana begins, and the last stretch follows a forest track along a torrent that motor vehicles can only manage with some difficulty. On foot, a simple six-kilometre walk starts at the foot of Sa Muntanya Mala in Ferreries, staying almost level along the mountain and the sea and passing car-free coves such as Cala Pilar.

The shrub that gives the beach its name, the agnocasto or aloc, is a endemic plant of great ecological value in this wind-shaped northern landscape. Bathers rarely notice it, but it is the reason the cove is called Ets Alocs.