Millions of people gathered across northern and central Spain on the evening of 12 August 2026 to see the country’s first total solar eclipse in more than a century, the Associated Press reported. Totality lasted roughly a minute in Spain, just before sunset.
Spanish skies were cloudless, with temperatures above 35°C (95°F) in many eclipse areas. About 350 official viewing sites were set up in the sparsely populated interior, authorities expected at least 500,000 additional visitors, and the Interior Ministry deployed more than 33,500 police officers to viewing areas and access roads. Eclipse glasses sold out at many pharmacies.
The 2026 eclipse was the first of three for Spain in under two years. Next comes the total eclipse of 2 August 2027, which crosses the far south of Andalusia with far longer totality, more than four minutes along the Strait of Gibraltar, and an annular eclipse follows on 26 January 2028.
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- Associated Press via OPB, “Millions crowd cities to see Spain’s first total solar eclipse in over a century” (13 August 2026)