Spain's solar eclipse trilogy: Spectacle starts August 12

A total solar eclipse occurred on August 12, 2026, visible as a total eclipse over parts of Iceland, Greenland, northern Russia, and northern Spain and northeastern Portugal, with a partial eclipse seen across much of Western Europe, northern Africa and northern America. Roughly 980 million people across the Northern Hemisphere had the chance to observe the event, and researchers used the brief window to study the sun's corona with specialized instruments. The eclipse began at 15:34 GMT and reached totality about two hours later at 17:46 GMT, lasting roughly two minutes, with totality visible in Iceland at 17:48 GMT and in Spain at 18:27. This is the first of a series of solar and lunar eclipse events expected over Spain and North Africa between August 2026 and January 2028, including a lunar eclipse on August 27-28, 2026 and another solar eclipse on February 2, 2027 over parts of Africa, South America and Antarctica.