MEDINACELI, Spain (AP) — Spaniards rushed to buy specialized glasses to view a rare total solar eclipse Wednesday, as authorities warned people flocking to rural areas to avoid anything that could spark new wildfires.Across a swath of northern and central Spain, millions of people will have some of mainland Europe’s best views of the celestial spectacle. It will begin around sunset, when the sun, moon and Earth align, briefly bringing parts of the Iberian Peninsula, plus slivers of Greenland and Iceland, into darkness.Totality — when the moon completely covers the sun’s light — is expected to last less than 2 1/2 minutes, reaching its maximum duration off Iceland’s west coast. By the time it gets to a small patch of Portugal and then Spain, totality will have dwindled to a minute or so. The spectacle will then end over the Mediterranean.
Against the backdrop of scorching summer temperatures and wildfires, Spanish officials have rolled out a large public safety campaign. The eclipse could draw at least an additional half a million visitors, authorities say. Demand for hotel rooms along the path of totality, including in the northern cities of A Coruña, Bilbao and Santiago de Compostela, has soared.In Medinaceli, a Roman-era hilltop town in northeast Spain, sky watchers secured grassy viewing points several hours early. “It must be thrilling to see the darkness come suddenly and the image of the sun disappearing,” said Agatha Bak, a 40-year-old philosophy professor who left Madrid for the town at sunrise with a group of friends.
