Spain already has its eyes on the sky. Or at least, it is ready. But not everyone in the country will be able to see the same thing. The total solar eclipse on 12 August, according to both meteorologists and astronomers, is a phenomenon that will literally split the country in two: those who see the Sun disappear completely and those who miss out at the very last moment.
Outside the path: Madrid, Barcelona and much of the south
The path of totality, the narrow corridor where the Moon covers the Sun 100%, cuts across the peninsula from west to east and takes in provincial capitals such as La Coruña, Oviedo, León, Bilbao, Zaragoza, Valencia and Palma. Outside that track, the rest of the country will see a partial eclipse, deeper or shallower depending on the distance from the central line.
Madrid and Barcelona are the two big absentees. The strip runs right between the two cities, so their residents will experience an afternoon with the Sun almost completely covered, up to 99% in some areas, but without those few seconds of total darkness that turn the event into something unlike anything else.
Huesca and Zamora lie right on the edge of totality, which means the irregular outline of the lunar surface can make the crucial moment impossible to pick out with the naked eye. And the entire southern half of the peninsula will simply have to make do with a partial eclipse.
The one enemy nobody can control: clouds
Being in the right band is no guarantee of anything if the sky does not play along. The Cantabrian coast - Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria - has a rather poor meteorological track record at this time of year, with chances of clear skies that in some studies barely reach 50%.
A solar eclipse in 2024 seen from Arlington, Texas (USA)A solar eclipse in 2024 seen from Arlington, Texas (USA)
The most recent forecasts point to better odds in western and inland areas of Galicia, Castilla y León and the Balearic Islands, although the models can still shift up to the last minute. For anyone who has travelled hundreds of kilometres in pursuit of totality, a single badly placed cloud on the western horizon can ruin in seconds what geography had granted them.
Those who will keep working while the sky goes dark
Spain has no special permission to leave work during the eclipse, and employment law does not recognise it as a case of force majeure. So drivers, hospitality staff or construction workers on shift this afternoon will, in principle, carry on with their working day while everything around them stops to look up.
At most, it is possible to fit the moment of totality, barely a minute or so in the best locations, into the 15-minute break set out in the Workers' Statute for working days of more than six hours, but that requires prior agreement with the company.
The DGT, in fact, has put in place a special traffic operation in anticipation of tailbacks in the busiest areas, so a large part of the road workforce will have a far more hectic afternoon than usual.
For safety, better not to look at it directly
Some people could watch it but choose not to, or really should not. Ophthalmologists have been insisting for weeks that looking at the Sun without ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses, even for a few seconds, and not even with ordinary sunglasses, X-ray films or homemade filters, can cause solar retinopathy: a burn on the retina that does not hurt, goes unnoticed at the time and can take between 4 and 48 hours to appear as a dark patch in the centre of vision.
The ONCE Social Group has distributed nearly two million certified pairs of glasses around the country precisely to avoid accidents, and ophthalmology societies recommend that children, in particular, should not observe the event without direct adult supervision. Anyone without approved protection to hand really has only two safe options: either not looking at all or following it via a 'streaming'.
Watching the eclipse through binoculars is another optionWatching the eclipse through binoculars is another option
ESA will provide two live streams. The first will be the official broadcast, produced from the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory in Teruel. It will include live interviews, explanations, images and information about eclipses, as well as coverage of totality at 20:31. It will be in English and can be followed on ESA Web TV and YouTube.
ESA's second stream will show images captured by telescopes, with no commentary or explanations: only the eclipse live, also available on YouTube.
For its part, NASA will also offer its own 'streaming', starting at 19:15. The broadcast will show different views of the eclipse as it moves along its path and will include interviews with experts. It can be followed both on NASA's website and on YouTube, with live links to different points where totality can be observed, such as Iceland at 19:45 or Spain at 20:28.
A phenomenon you can also listen to
For blind people or those with low vision, eclipses have traditionally been a spectacle from which they were, by definition, excluded. That changes this year with the Inclusive Eclipse project, driven by the CSIC research council, which is distributing LightSound devices at different observation points around the country.
The device converts the intensity of sunlight into sound in real time: a tone that fades and drops in pitch as the Moon covers the solar disc, almost disappearing altogether during totality. It is not the same as seeing it, but it is a way of sharing the very instant when millions of people will be looking up at the sky this afternoon.
Those who do not want to see it
Not everyone missing out on the eclipse this afternoon does so because they cannot watch it: some people simply prefer not to go out and look. In recent weeks, several false rumours have been circulating on social networks that mix the event with conspiracy theories, from warnings about supposed neurological problems caused by observing it to the claim, without any scientific basis, that Earth will lose gravity for seven seconds, attributed to a non-existent leaked NASA document.
Watch out for the youngest members of the household and for them taking off their glasses in the middle of the eclipseWatch out for the youngest members of the household and for them taking off their glasses in the middle of the eclipse
Fact-checkers have been dismantling these messages for days, but they keep being repeated, and some go so far as to warn people not to go out during the eclipse. For part of the population, that constant background 'murmur' is enough for them to stay at home with the blinds down.
Then there are those who do not fear the event itself, but everything that surrounds it. Villages in the path of totality have seen tourist searches rise by more than 800% compared with a normal year, and many local residents are already saying they will spend the afternoon away from the crowds, leaving the best vantage points to watch the Sun to the thousands of visitors who have ended up clogging roads and accommodation. For them, the eclipse is not so much an astronomical show.
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