Spain – The Moon first blotted out the Sun at the northernmost tip of mainland Russia at about 1900 CET, leaving only the shimmering glow of its outer corona and eerie darkness. As it passes down through parts of Greenland and Iceland, excitement built in Spain, where the eclipse’s narrow path cuts diagonally from the northwestern Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean Sea, before being expected to fade at about 2030 CET. Millions of people gathered in Iceland and northern Spain to witness Europe’s first total solar eclipse in 27 years on Wednesday, with Spanish officials warning people to avoid areas where a heatwave has raised the risk of wildfires. Major viewing locations in parts of Iceland, northern Spain and a small corner of northeastern Portugal will be in the path of totality, when the skies go momentarily dark as the sun completely disappears from view — creating a rare sunset eclipse for some, especially observers in Spain. Tourists and enthusiasts thronged normally quiet Spanish villages, as mainland Europe has not experienced a total solar eclipse for 20 years while Spain has not witnessed one in more than a century. Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, however, has not seen a total solar eclipse since 1433. Dylan Vaughan-Streater, from east London, drew in a small crowd when he went out to see the solar eclipse. He tells me: “I made the pinhole camera in about 10 minutes out of a poster tube, tin foil, baking paper and a cardboard box. It was the first time I made one of these!” “I have loved science ever since I was a kid, and it’s why I became a science teacher,” he adds. “I wanted to see the solar eclipse as it is a once in a generational thing.” “It’s the first time and it’s the last time, the only time I’m going to see an eclipse,” Yenny Guevera, a 50-year-old Peruvian living in France, said in northwest Spain. “I like painting and I really like light,” said Mercedes Bua, a 51-year-old engineer awaiting the eclipse’s passage in a park in Colmenar Viejo, some 30 kilometres north of Madrid.
“So I find it interesting to see how it’s going to look.” Supplies of special viewing glasses were in high demand as a partial eclipse will be visible for millions more in most of Europe, Canada, the northern United States and northwest Africa. However, a total eclipse of the Sun is expected to only be visible in a handful of places.
