Has the solar eclipse happened yet? Not on Wednesday morning, but Agatha Bak was already on the road, leaving Madrid for Medinaceli at sunrise with a group of friends to watch the total solar eclipse. The philosophy professor said in Medinaceli, Spain: "It must be thrilling to see the darkness come suddenly and the image of the sun disappearing".
The eclipse is expected to sweep across northern and central Spain, with a sliver of Greenland and Iceland also in the path. Totality should last less than 2 1/2 minutes overall, with its longest stretch off Iceland’s west coast and only about a minute by the time it reaches a small patch of Portugal and then Spain just before sunset.
Spain’s viewing sites
Spain’s Interior Ministry said 350 official viewing sites have been set up across the sparsely populated interior. Authorities have limited or restricted access to another 123 sites because environmental conditions or obstacles could hinder evacuation if a wildfire breaks out.
That planning comes as the eclipse is expected to draw at least an additional half a million visitors. Demand for hotel rooms along the path of totality has soared in A Coruña, Bilbao and Santiago de Compostela, while most of Spain was on alert on Wednesday as temperatures climbed above 35 Celsius in many areas where the eclipse will be observed.
Fernández Castro on eye protection
Telmo Fernández Castro, director of the Madrid Planetarium, said: "To look at the sun, you must always use proper protection, and the most suitable protection is eclipse glasses". For months, supermarkets, department stores, museums and planetariums across Spain sold or distributed eclipse glasses, and many pharmacies ran out of stock ahead of Wednesday.
The warning is more than routine. On Tuesday evening, a long line formed in downtown Madrid, while only weeks ago the most destructive wildfire in Spanish history devoured 500 square kilometers and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Ávila. Several smaller wildfires remained active in southern and central parts of Spain.
Grande-Marlaska’s precautions
Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the Interior Minister, said: "High temperatures, the accumulated dryness of vegetation, and the intense pressure on natural areas due to projected travel necessitate extreme preventive measures". Spain’s Interior Ministry said more than 33,500 law enforcement officers will be deployed to observation areas and access points.
The eclipse is expected to end over the Mediterranean after crossing Spain, with viewers in Greenland and Iceland also watching the path move eastward across Europe. Whether the eclipse was actually visible as expected and how the wildfire precautions affected viewing conditions is left to the day’s events.
