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Europe’s eclipse, Aug. 12
On Wednesday, August 12, 2026, millions of people across Europe gathered to watch a total solar eclipse, with crowds in Spain seeking the best views as the alignment of the sun, moon and Earth briefly plunged parts of the planet into darkness.
“Millions of people crowded cloudless cities and towns in Spain on Wednesday”
In Spain, the moon completely covers the sun during a solar eclipse as seen from Villalba del Rey, Spain, Aug. 12, 2026, and totality was expected to last less than 2 1/2 minutes, reaching its maximum duration off Iceland's west coast.
The eclipse’s path moved from a sliver of Greenland and Iceland toward Spain, with totality dwindling to a minute or so by the time it reached a small patch of Portugal and then Spain just before sunset, and the eclipse ending over the Mediterranean.
In Paris, the eclipse was partial rather than total, and one report said the Sun over Paris took on a crescent-like shape as the phenomenon began around 7:22 p.m. and reached its maximum over the capital at 8:17 p.m.
Crowds, safety, and scientists
In Medinaceli, a Roman-era hilltop town in northeast Spain, sky watchers secured grassy viewing points hours early and crowded its restaurants and bars, and 24-year-old physics student Óscar Pérez said, "It's the first time in my lifetime that I'll get to see a total eclipse in Spain."
Spanish officials rolled out a large public safety campaign as temperatures climbed above 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) in many areas where the total eclipse will be observed, and Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said, "High temperatures, the accumulated dryness of vegetation, and the intense pressure on natural areas" required extreme preventive measures.
Authorities urged visitors not to light fires, litter or park in areas with dry vegetation, and 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."
In Paris, observers were told the event would require special eclipse glasses, and one guide said the French Astronomical Association expects the phenomenon would theoretically end around 9:09 PM in Paris, though the Sun would already be set or extremely close to the horizon.
Next eclipses and what’s at risk
The eclipse in Spain was described as the first in a sequence of three astronomical phenomena crossing the Iberian Peninsula over the next three years, with another solar eclipse on August 2, 2027 and a third event on January 26, 2028.
“The event drove many people to leave the cities in search of sites with better observing conditions”
That same sequence was framed as continuing with an August 2, 2027 totality duration that could exceed six minutes in certain areas, while the January 26, 2028 event would be an annular eclipse leaving a visible bright ring known as the “ring of fire.”
Even as people watched, the sources tied the spectacle to fire risk and the need for prevention, noting that the eclipse could draw at least an additional half-million visitors and that authorities’ top priority was to prevent even a single spark that could lead to a fire, as happened in Ávila in late July.
In Paris and Île-de-France, the guidance emphasized that without proper protection exposure to the Sun can cause serious and irreversible eye damage, and the same local report said the next total solar eclipse visible from metropolitan France is announced for 2081.
