Spain is already looking to the sky. Or at least, getting ready to. But not everyone in the country will see the same thing. The total solar eclipse on 12 August is, meteorologists and astronomers agree, a phenomenon that will literally split the country in two: those who will see the Sun disappear completely and those who will be left at the threshold.
Outside the path: Madrid, Barcelona and much of the south
The path of totality, the narrow corridor where the Moon covers the Sun 100%, crosses the peninsula from west to east and takes in capitals such as La Coruña, Oviedo, León, Bilbao, Zaragoza, Valencia and Palma. Outside that track, the rest of the country will see a partial eclipse, deeper or shallower depending on the distance from the central line.
Madrid and Barcelona are the two big absentees. The band passes right between the two cities, so residents will experience an afternoon with the Sun almost completely covered, up to 99% in some places, but without those few seconds of total darkness that turn the event into something unlike anything else.
Huesca and Zamora lie right on the edge of totality, meaning that the uneven lunar profile could make the key moment imperceptible to the naked eye. And the entire southern half of the peninsula will, quite simply, have to settle for a partial eclipse.
