Spanish Olympic skater Danny León lands viral trick timed to total solar eclipse in Novales

The stunt

On August 12, 2026, as a total solar eclipse crossed Spain, 31-year-old skater Danny León rolled down a ramp in the Aragonese plateau and launched into the air at the exact moment the Moon fully covered the Sun. The sequence was captured in slow motion by a camera crew positioned at a distance, showing León and his board suspended against the ring of the eclipse. He had been skating for about 10 minutes as the eclipse progressed, but knew the window of totality would last only about 30 seconds. After three attempts, the third produced what he called the perfect trick. The footage was set to Michael Jackson's "Earth Song" and shared on Instagram with the title "El truco de mi vida: Eclipse mode."

Planning and team

The project began more than a year earlier, when photographer Jose Angel Izquierdo, known as Jaicano, and León had been taking photos together involving the sun and the moon. Cameraman Gonzalo González De Vega, known as Gochi Estrella, who knew an eclipse would pass over Spain, suggested they do something that day. Jaicano researched the technical details of the eclipse, determining where it would be visible longest and at what height the shot needed to be framed. He selected Novales, a village of about 150 inhabitants in the province of Huesca, 15 kilometres from Huesca and less than an hour from Zaragoza. The team contacted SB Ramps, a small Barcelona-based company that designs and builds skate modules, to construct a ramp transported by van to the rural site. The full crew numbered about eight people.

No sponsorship, total commitment

León confirmed that no brand sponsored the project.

“No brand supported us.”

Despite the lack of financial backing, the team proceeded, sleeping in cars and in the open field. The day before the eclipse, they travelled to Novales to test the ramp and time how many tricks León could fit within the 30-second window. They settled on three attempts so the best take could be selected. On the day, León skated throughout the eclipse's progression and the team shot continuously during totality, seconds before 20:28. The cameramen, León said, were moved to tears by what they had captured. He could not watch the eclipse himself because he was skating, and only realised what they had achieved after reviewing the footage.

“Everything has been possible thanks to everyone's contribution, with no help at all, sleeping in the car, in the field in the dark, eating tortilla from Mercadona... it was brutal.”

Marina Valdés, speaking on the programme Más Vale Tarde, told him:

“Literally, you are the person who eclipsed the eclipse.”

Viral reach

The video spread rapidly across social media. By August 13, less than 24 hours after publication, the Instagram post had attracted varying figures depending on the source: Observador reported about 86 million views and over 9 million likes, LaSexta counted 11 million likes, and AGI cited nearly 10 million views on his account. León told LaSexta that he had not expected the national resonance the image achieved. He does not yet know whether he will repeat the project at future eclipses, though he said he already has new short-term challenges ahead.

Career

León, whose full name is Danny León Vallarino, began skating as a child and joined Red Bull's structure at age 13. He has competed in events including the Vans Park Series, the Dew Tour, the Skate Ark Japan, the Simple Session, and the Bondi Bowl-A-Rama. He represented Spain at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Red Bull has described him as one of the most well-travelled skaters of his generation, and he is one of the few Spaniards with his own signature board model.