‘ABSURD SCENE’:
Millions of people gathered in Spain and Iceland to witness the first total solar eclipse in Western Europe in 27 years, including Queen’s Brian May
Reuters, MADRID and REYKJAVIK
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Spectators across Spain on Wednesday evening watched in wonder, some whipping off their protective glasses and rising to their feet in unison, as a rare total solar eclipse swept across the north of the country, plunging it into darkness. Spain deployed a massive police contingent and set up special viewing spots across rural areas that offered the best views of the spectacle. Viewers in Buitrago de Lozoya, a rural district north of Madrid, clapped and cheered as the sky dimmed and Baily’s beads — bright points of sunlight that shine around the edge of the moon during a total eclipse — glistened on the horizon just after 8:30pm, lasting barely a minute.
