The Spanish government and local authorities have begun to designate “preferred observation points” in Spain for viewing the solar eclipses that will occur (two total and one annular) in 2026, 2027 and 2028. These are locations that offer optimal visibility, accessibility and sufficient capacity to safely accommodate large numbers of people.
The first “preferred observation points” (for viewing the 2026 eclipse) are already listed on the website launched by the Ministry of Science to compile accurate information about these extraordinary events, which will position Spain as one of the best places in the world to view them and as a natural laboratory for research.
In Spain, the last visible annular eclipse took place in 2005 and the last total eclipse in 1959 (and only from the Canary Islands), and a total solar eclipse has not been seen on the mainland for over a hundred years (1912); that drought will end on 12 August, with a solar eclipse that will be visible from the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearics, the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, and during its total phase across a wide swathe stretching from west to east across Spain, passing through numerous provincial capitals, from A Coruña, Lugo and Oviedo to Valencia, Tarragona and Mallorca.
The website set up by the Ministry of Science (https://trioeclipses.es) compiles extensive information on the three phenomena, health advice to be followed, expected tourist flows and measures being prepared to ensure public safety and manage the expected heavy traffic, as well as scientific information compiled with the advice of various institutions, including the National Astronomical Observatory, the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics, the Andalusia Institute of Astrophysics and the European Space Agency.
Based on the information provided by each autonomous community, the site already indicates the first “preferred observation points”, which have been validated by the Ministry of the Interior, although the map is open to modifications and updates. These include the small municipality of Arija and a moorland area in Poza de la Sal (in Burgos); the Valonsadero mountain (Soria); kilometres 183 and 184 of the Mudéjar motorway in Calamocha and the Javalambre ski resort (Teruel); the Burgar industrial estate in Reus (Tarragona); the old football ground in Lerín (Navarra); the chapel of the Virgen del Yugo in Arguedas (Navarra); and junction 334 of the Madrid-Valencia motorway, near the Valencian town of Cheste.
Also featured are the Vega viewpoint in Saldaña, the Ruesga Reservoir in Cervera del Pisuerga (Palencia), and Medina de Rioseco (Valladolid), as part of a list now comprising over thirty locations that can be viewed on the map, each with its exact coordinates. The website itself advises that if the town where you live or are staying is within the path of totality of the eclipse and there is a clear view of the western horizon, the best place to see it ‘is where you already are’, to avoid unnecessary travel and thus help to ensure road safety and avoid crowds.
Asturias, Cantabria, Aragon, Castile and Leon, Catalonia, Navarre, the Valencian Community, Galicia, the Balearics, La Rioja and the Basque Country have been selected as “key” communities for the event next August, as they will see the eclipse in its entirety. However, all regions are included, because the phases, even if partial, will cover very large areas (around 99 per cent in many cases) and all locations will experience significant darkness and a completely atypical sunset, even if they do not reach the totality phase.
Catalonia, under the initiative “Catalunya mira al cielo” (Catalonia looks to the sky), has already defined 26 priority observation points in a total of 20 municipalities within the band of totality (province of Tarragona and southern Lleida), and has pointed out that the cities and municipalities of the Tarragona coast and the interior of the Ebro will be the reference points for observing totality.
In Aragon, visibility will be unbeatable in the three capitals and in the Pyrenees; as in Cantabria, where visibility will also be 100 per cent and places such as Santander, Torrelavega, Comillas and Potes have been highlighted; or Castile and León, one of the best places to witness the phenomenon as it affects almost the entire region (except the southernmost parts of Ávila and Salamanca) and where Burgos and Palencia are situated very close to the central line of maximum duration.
The province of Álava and its capital, Vitoria, will be the best place to observe it in the Basque Country; in Asturias, the total eclipse will affect the entire region without the need to travel; in Navarre, the total eclipse will be visible in the southern and central areas (Tudela, Olite and Bardenas); in the Valencian Community, Castellón and the north of the province of Valencia appear to be the best places; and in Galicia, the north (the city of A Coruña, Ferrol, and the north of Lugo) are the first points on the peninsula to see the phenomenon.
Logroño is cited as an excellent location to see the first eclipse, because it will also be very close to the central line of maximum duration; and in the Balearics, the totality phase will be complete and slightly longer on the islands of Mallorca and Menorca. But in addition to the ‘key’ communities, the best places in each region are generally mentioned, such as Yecla or Jumilla, in Murcia; the north of the province of Cáceres; or the north of the Community of Madrid.