Eclipse August 12, 2026
- Thread starter thebum2
- Start date
tseeb
Well-known member
@Tony Crocker and I and our wives plan to see eclipse from castle(s) outside Madrid.
We took sunset boat tour from El Palmar onto Lake Albufera. Batwalking tour company we used will be taking 3 vans to Lake for eclipse leaving much earlier than we did last evening from Valencia to avoid planned road closures. Unedited photos taken two minutes before and at 9 PM.
During totality, the sun will only be about five degrees above horizon so clouds could block view as they also could at castle outside Madrid.
We took sunset boat tour from El Palmar onto Lake Albufera. Batwalking tour company we used will be taking 3 vans to Lake for eclipse leaving much earlier than we did last evening from Valencia to avoid planned road closures. Unedited photos taken two minutes before and at 9 PM.
During totality, the sun will only be about five degrees above horizon so clouds could block view as they also could at castle outside Madrid.
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EMSC
Well-known member
Good for the Tonys.
Once upon a time I had wanted to go but was going to throw something together ~6 mo prior. By the time I should have been planning something I was no where near feeling good enough on my journey coming back from my heart attack to feel confident in booking. Then my teenager got a job and his school starts literally the day after the eclipse, etc... Just too many speed bumps for an eclipse trip for me. Hopefully it turns out spectacular for everyone who does make it. Now hoping to do a non-eclipse Euro trip next summer.
Once upon a time I had wanted to go but was going to throw something together ~6 mo prior. By the time I should have been planning something I was no where near feeling good enough on my journey coming back from my heart attack to feel confident in booking. Then my teenager got a job and his school starts literally the day after the eclipse, etc... Just too many speed bumps for an eclipse trip for me. Hopefully it turns out spectacular for everyone who does make it. Now hoping to do a non-eclipse Euro trip next summer.
Next year's eclipse is better than this one and you could see it in southern Spain for 4+ minutes at 40 degree altitude 10:48 local time vs. 7 degrees altitude, under two minutes at 45 minutes before sunset this time.
Last night's Valencia sunset at the time of next week's eclipse:
Since you haven't mentioned it, I assume that fire smoke is not going to be a concern?
The fire of most concern west of Siguenza started July 16 and was put put by Aug. 1. The fire west of Madrid is well south of the path.
On our tour we have moved from the steambath or Barcelona (86F, 88% humidity) to Vegas-like Cordoba (105F, 32% humidity). That's dewpoint 74F vs. 55F.
Heat waves in interior Spain suppress cloud formation by lowering the dewpoint though it also tends to bring in Sahara dust,
We are 5 days out but for now the forecast looks favorable except for the north coast which looks cloudy as it was most of the time when we were there at the start of the trip 2 weeks ago.
Our new member may not know that Liz and I scheduled our wedding on Rendezvous Peak at the 2017 eclipse.
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Weathertoski
Member
Have just made a very late call to see the eclipse in Menorca! Lucked out by finding one of the last affordable rooms in one of the best bases - Cala Blanca on the west coast. This will be my second full eclipse - first was in Cornwall in 1999. Anyone else ever seen such a late evening one?
Looks like a good call by Fraser vs. Palma.
2 degrees over horizon is very low, clouds anywhere on that red line will obstruct the eclipse. Lowest angle eclipse we saw was 5 degrees from aircraft SE of Falkland Islands in 2021.
On land I think China 2008 and Australia 2012 were in the 9-10 degree range. Siguenza next week is 7 degrees.
On land I think China 2008 and Australia 2012 were in the 9-10 degree range. Siguenza next week is 7 degrees.
I highly recommend the ECountdown app screenshotted above, well worth the $1.99 price.
Weathertoski
Member
Yes, as you say even some very fine high cloud could be a problem here but odds of completely clear skies still in our favor I think. Given we have less than a minute of totality, my biggest dilemma is whether to try and take some photos, or just make sure we are fully immersed in the experience!
Split the difference and work on your eclipse spreadsheet!
Maybe this was covered in previous eclipse threads but I must've missed it.
www.euronews.com
Could Spain's eclipse fry your phone? Here's how to shoot it safely
Filming Spain's rare eclipse on 12 August? Pointing an unprotected phone camera at the Sun could fry its sensor within minutes.
www.euronews.com
This particular eclipse may not be a big deal for phones. People take sunset photos unfiltered constantly.
ChrisC
Well-known member
Wow - an activity more infuriating than skiing. 
Good luck to everyone!
Quite a few friends and acquaintances added eclipse watching if they were in Europe this week.
Aug. 12, 2026, 8:37 p.m. minutes ago
Roser Toll Pifarré
Reporting from Sant Antoni, on the northern side of Ibiza
A moment of crisis on the Ibiza beach: A cloud has covered the sun. “These things happen,” said Roy Clarke, 41. “I’m happy anyway.” He had booked his ticket to Ibiza from the north of England back in January to see his first eclipse. He was trying out a new camera, a Christmas gift. He had carried the tripod and the giant lens on the plane just for this moment. He set up on a slightly elevated patch of open ground facing the seafront promenade, and nearby tourists keep asking if they can peek through his viewfinder, which is set to capture a timelapse of the event.
Clarke had no plans to do anything special with the photos. “They’re just for me,” he said. He focused on enjoying the moment, though, if the clouds don’t lift, there will be no eclipse to photograph.
“We might still get lucky. What if we all blow on it?” said Elisabet Marín, 77, looking at the cloud.
Aug. 12, 2026, 8:57 p.m. ET3 minutes ago
David Moll
The light dropped, and people began to shout. It briefly turned to night over the sea, and the sun’s fiery corona came into view. Thousands of phone screens were raised toward it amid applause. Overhead, in the now-dim, almost-dark sky, half a dozen drones hovered.
Minutes earlier, no one expected to see it at all. A cloud had covered the sun halfway through the eclipse. “This is a scam,” said Chelo Ortega, a tourist who settled in Ibiza after moving from Toledo, Spain. “Maybe they’ll do a rerun tomorrow,” her husband, Julián Gómez, joked. A few impatient onlookers had started getting up to head home when suddenly, the sun — still tracking its descent toward the sea — reappeared. Esteve Costa, 62, snapped a photo with the fiery corona behind him and his son and namesake, 24.
Good luck to everyone!
Quite a few friends and acquaintances added eclipse watching if they were in Europe this week.
Aug. 12, 2026, 8:37 p.m. minutes ago
Roser Toll Pifarré
Reporting from Sant Antoni, on the northern side of Ibiza
A moment of crisis on the Ibiza beach: A cloud has covered the sun. “These things happen,” said Roy Clarke, 41. “I’m happy anyway.” He had booked his ticket to Ibiza from the north of England back in January to see his first eclipse. He was trying out a new camera, a Christmas gift. He had carried the tripod and the giant lens on the plane just for this moment. He set up on a slightly elevated patch of open ground facing the seafront promenade, and nearby tourists keep asking if they can peek through his viewfinder, which is set to capture a timelapse of the event.
Clarke had no plans to do anything special with the photos. “They’re just for me,” he said. He focused on enjoying the moment, though, if the clouds don’t lift, there will be no eclipse to photograph.
“We might still get lucky. What if we all blow on it?” said Elisabet Marín, 77, looking at the cloud.
Aug. 12, 2026, 8:57 p.m. ET3 minutes ago
David Moll
The light dropped, and people began to shout. It briefly turned to night over the sea, and the sun’s fiery corona came into view. Thousands of phone screens were raised toward it amid applause. Overhead, in the now-dim, almost-dark sky, half a dozen drones hovered.
Minutes earlier, no one expected to see it at all. A cloud had covered the sun halfway through the eclipse. “This is a scam,” said Chelo Ortega, a tourist who settled in Ibiza after moving from Toledo, Spain. “Maybe they’ll do a rerun tomorrow,” her husband, Julián Gómez, joked. A few impatient onlookers had started getting up to head home when suddenly, the sun — still tracking its descent toward the sea — reappeared. Esteve Costa, 62, snapped a photo with the fiery corona behind him and his son and namesake, 24.