The sum of years without being able to see a total solar eclipse in Spain is 67 years old. The one that will be seen this Monday april 8, especially in the United Stateswill last only a few minutes, during which the day will turn to night. The phenomenon is being known worldwide as the great American eclipse.
This event is a preview of the two back-to-back solar eclipses that will be visible on Spain. Both phenomena are already in red on the calendar: august 12, 2026 and August 2, 2027.
The first of these eclipses will be perfectly visible in the Balearic Islands according to the predictions. The event will start in northern America and will move towards Greenland, Iceland, Europe and northwest Africa. Different maps of the country show the incidence of the eclipse and how it will be seen in the different autonomous communities. Thus, it will be perceived as partial from all the territory, including the Canary Islands, and as total from large areas of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, Valencia, Asturias, Galicia, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Basque Country, La Rioja, Navarra, Aragón or Madrid.
On the clock, the eclipse is scheduled to occur in the late evening hours. The path of totality will enter the northwest of Spain at 19.30 hours and the peak will be reached at 20.30. The phenomenon will end completely at sunset.
The duration of the complete occultation of the sun will be at below two minutes.
On the other hand, the second solar eclipse will occur on August 2, 2027. On this occasion, it will affect a large part of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. In Spain, it will be total in fewer communities, specifically in the south of Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla. It may be contemplated as partial in the rest of the country, for example in the Balearic Islands.
The last total eclipses of the sun in Spain occurred on august 30, 1905 and October 2, 1959. The next total solar eclipse observable from the Spanish territory will not take place until september 12, 2053.
All these events predicted in the coming years will close with another solar eclipse, this time annular, on January 2, 2028.
A solar eclipse makes it possible to watch the sun disappear behind the lunar disk while the temperature drops sharply and the stars appear in a darkened daytime sky.
Solar eclipses occur when lhe moon comes between the earth and the sun, obscuring it. Although in a solar eclipse the lunar phase is new, not all new moons generate eclipses. The reason is to be found in the inclination of the satellite’s orbit with respect to the sun-earth plane, which causes it to the new moon passes over or below the solar disk without obscuring it. In total eclipses, the sun is completely hidden by the moon. In partial eclipses, only a portion of the solar disk is covered.
The solar eclipse is a natural event that causes fascination among people.