Total solar eclipse darkens Spain and Iceland, draws millions of spectators across Europe

Path of totality

A rare total solar eclipse traversed the Northern Hemisphere on Wednesday, 12 August 2026, beginning in the Arctic reaches of northern Russia before sweeping across Greenland, Iceland and into northern Spain. The Russian space agency Roscosmos announced the start of the phenomenon at the northernmost extremities of continental Russia. The path of totality, where the Moon completely obscured the Sun, stretched from Greenland through Iceland to a band crossing Spain from Galicia to the Mediterranean coast and the Balearic Islands, passing through Asturias, Bilbao, Zaragoza, Valencia, Burgos and Palma de Majorque. Beyond this band, the eclipse was partial, visible across France, Canada, northern West Africa and the United States.

Spain in darkness

In Spain, where the eclipse was total, the experience lasted barely two minutes at most. In La Corogne, on the northwestern coast, the Sun was entirely masked for one minute and 17 seconds. Approximately 125,000 people massed on the beach, the municipality reported, though cloud cover partially obscured the spectacle. Five large cruise ships discharged nearly 14,000 passengers and crew into the city's streets, according to the local newspaper La Voz de Galicia. Hotels and hostels had been booked for months, parking lots filled by morning, and protective glasses sold out almost everywhere.

Near Burgos, where a France Télévisions team reported alongside eclipse chasers, the partial phase began around 17:30 GMT. Spectators waited through the afternoon under crushing heat, some with telescopes, others under parasols. Information signs were posted in French, Korean, Polish, German, English and Spanish. A group of South Korean tourists applauded the onset. In Tarragona, on the Mediterranean coast, a woman on the harbor reacted immediately as the crowd around her applauded. On Palma de Majorque, tourists in swimsuits, some still ankle-deep in water, watched the sky darken. Journalist Viktor Frédéric, reporting from near Burgos, described the scene as the temperature dropped several degrees and darkness settled over the valley.

France's deep partial eclipse

In France, the eclipse was partial but reached striking levels of obscuration. More than 90% of the Sun was masked across much of the country, with the deepest coverage in the southwest. At Hendaye, near the Spanish border, 99.7% obscuration was observed. At Biarritz, the figure reached 99.5%. The phenomenon occurred in the late afternoon, shortly before sunset, between 19:00 and 21:00. On the Grande Plage in Biarritz, spectators celebrated with drinks in hand, noting the changing light and shadows. One observer remarked that instead of a crescent Moon, they were seeing a crescent Sun.

Scientific and historical context

The eclipse offered scientists an opportunity to study the Sun's atmosphere and its outermost layer, with the aim of understanding solar winds and the star's magnetic field. Alain Cirou, director of the magazine Ciel et Espace, noted that eclipses have driven inquiry for millennia.

Eclipses required thinking about the world around us, trying to know where we were situated, what the distances were. Is the Moon closer or is the Sun farther away? How do we know that?

The event was the first total solar eclipse in Europe since 2006, and the first of its kind in Spain in over 100 years. The last total eclipse visible in metropolitan France was on 11 August 1999, nearly 27 years ago. The next total solar eclipse in France will not occur until 2081.