Did you miss last week’s total solar eclipse? Perhaps you weren’t in the right part of the world, or maybe the weather was annoyingly cloudy. If so, don’t worry. If you’re in Europe, you’ll get not one but three chances to see a total solar eclipse over the course of three years.
That’s correct. Spain is forecast to experience three total solar eclipses for three years in a row. The first one will be in 2026, so you have two years to get ready!
Forget about visiting Madrid or Barcelona (they are overrated anyway!) because neither of these two cities will see an eclipse. The paths will go through other parts of the country, less well known to tourists, but just as interesting.
The first one will be on August 12th, 2026. It will cut a path from the Northwestern coast of Asturias down to the Balearic Islands in the East, narrowly missing out on the third-largest city of Valencia. The northern coast is beautiful; however, you’re more likely to have cloud cover there. The plains of Castilla y Leon or the Badlands around Zaraogza could be better and will provide stunning scenery as well.
The next total eclipse will occur on August 27th, 2027. This time, it will focus on the Southernmost tip of Andalucia. You’ll have to head to Gibraltar, Malaga or Cadiz to see this, and of course, in August, it will be extremely hot. But it’s unlikely you’ll be disappointed by cloud cover.
Finally, Spain’s third eclipse is not a total one but an annular eclipse. This is when the moon is at its farthest point from Earth, so it looks smaller in comparison to a total eclipse. Essentially, it doesn’t quite cover up the entire sun but leaves a ‘ring of fire’ around it. Nevertheless, it is pretty spectacular.
This will happen on January 28th, 2028, and will focus on Southwestern Spain up to the East Coast. If you’re in Sevilla or Cordoba in the South or Valencia, you might be able to capture this 7-minute-long spectacle.
The USA won’t see another eclipse until 2033, so if you’ve caught the eclipse bug, you might want to start looking into holidays in Spain. You have two years to prepare something epic like this!
[via forbes]
