After an absence of 67 years, total solar eclipses will visit Spain again, and they will do so no less than twice and in two consecutive years.
Let us remember that solar eclipses occur when the Sun, Moon and Earth align. If this configuration is perfect, the result is a total eclipse, in which the silhouette of the Moon completely hides the solar disk. Otherwise, you have a partial eclipse, in which the Sun is only covered in part. There are also annular eclipses, which occur if the visual size of our satellite, when it is at its furthest orbital point from Earth, is too small to completely cover the Sun.
In a total eclipse, the shadow of the Moon is projected on the surface of our planet and, as it rotates, the umbra moves rapidly in an easterly direction. So the observation of the so-called phase of totality, the brief moments in which the Sun is completely covered by the lunar disk, is only possible within the passage of the shadow: a path that usually reaches thousands of kilometers in length. but only a few hundred wide. Outside this range, the phenomenon is observed as partial.
Contemplating a total solar eclipse is a highly emotional experience that is difficult to forget. When the Sun is covered by the silhouette of the Moon, the day becomes dark, the brightest stars appear in the sky and the drop in temperature is more than notable (depending on the circumstances of the eclipse and the location, this drop can can be up to 10 degrees). At this time, the solar corona, an extremely hot region that surrounds the sun, can also be observed with the naked eye.
To avoid serious eye injuries, it is necessary to use instruments approved for solar observation, such as special glasses, throughout most of the eclipse. Only during the few moments of totality is it possible to look directly at the phenomenon (the duration of this phase can range from seconds to a few minutes depending on the eclipse and the location).
The first solar eclipse in the series will occur on August 12, 2026. It will begin in the north of the American continent and move towards Greenland, Iceland, Europe and northwest Africa. In our country, the phenomenon will be perceived as partial from the entire territory, including the Canary Islands, and as a total from large areas of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Basque Country, La Rioja, Navarra, Castilla-La Mancha, Community from Madrid, Aragon, Valencian Community, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
This event will take place in the late evening hours. Specifically, the path of totality will enter the extreme northwest of Spain at 7:30 p.m. (peninsular time) as a partial path, and the peak will be reached an hour later, around 8:30 p.m. The end of the phenomenon will coincide, in most of its journey, with sunset.
The spectacle can be enjoyed by millions of people in numerous towns located along the path of the eclipse shadow, although the duration of the complete occultation of the Sun, depending on the viewing location, will be less than 2 minutes. At this link it is possible to consult an interactive map with precise information for each location.
The second consecutive solar eclipse in Spain will occur on August 2, 2027, and will affect large areas of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. In our country it will be visible as partial from the entire territory, and as total from the south of Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla. Unlike the previous one, the 2027 eclipse will happen in the morning, around 9:40, and the totality phase, depending on the location, will exceed 4 and a half minutes.
It so happens that this series of events will close, six months later, with another solar eclipse that will once again affect Spain. On this occasion, it will be an annular one, on January 26, 2028, and its maximum occultation strip will cross the country from the southwest to the northeast.
In this type of eclipse, at the climax the dark silhouette of the Moon appears centered on the solar disk and surrounded by a thin ring of light (colloquially called ring of fire).
The last total solar eclipses in our country occurred on August 30, 1905 (totality was visible in much of the north and east of our country) and on October 2, 1959 (it was observed as total in the Canary Islands).
The next total solar eclipse observable from Spanish territory will not take place until September 12, 2053, when the shadow of the Moon is once again projected along a narrow strip that will pass right through the Strait of Gibraltar.
