{"id":91743,"date":"2026-08-14T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T06:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/?p=91743"},"modified":"2026-08-13T21:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T03:02:12","slug":"first-total-eclipse-in-europe-in-decades-turns-day-to-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/first-total-eclipse-in-europe-in-decades-turns-day-to-night\/","title":{"rendered":"First total eclipse in Europe in decades turns day to night"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"First<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first total solar eclipse in decades in Europe swept across the continent on Wednesday, turning day to dark across several countries as crowds watched from hilltops, coastlines and other open spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coincidence of Earth, the moon and the sun falling into perfect alignment \u2014 a fleeting celestial event known as totality \u2014 created a frenzy across the region. People paid exorbitant hotel rates to be in the inner part, or umbra, of the lunar shadow. Along that path, where the sky was clear, the sun became a black disk ensconced in a hazy corona, surrounded by planets and stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Spain, normally empty towns filled up. Other people trekked to far-flung North Atlantic destinations. But how much anyone saw depended on their luck with cloud cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The eclipse moved over Iceland \u2014 where birds screamed as if it were dusk, while the air went cold and darkness fell \u2014 and Spain, where crowds gathered in Castrillo de la Reina in the north chanted, \u201cNow, now, now!\u201d as the eclipse took its first nibble. In London, people clustered in streets and parks to see a partial eclipse. \u201cWell done, moon,\u201d exclaimed a viewer on Primrose Hill in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eclipses have seized the imagination since people began telling stories. In Homer\u2019s \u201cOdyssey,\u201d the death of Penelope\u2019s suitors is foretold with an omen that may have been a solar eclipse: \u201cThe sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That strange moment of totality was Wednesday\u2019s main event. Much light went out of the sky and warmth out of the air.  The moon seem to cut into the sun and then, over about an hour, slide across its surface until the brief totality phase \u2014 at most, just over two minutes \u2014 ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not everyone was lucky enough to see it, or much of it. At an eclipse festival in Hellissandur, Iceland, heavy clouds and rain were the order of the day. But just after 5:45 p.m. local time, the clouds parted just enough to let viewers see the sun narrow to a sliver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was like a generosity from the sky to open up for us,\u201d said Bjorgvin Hallgrimsson, 60, a contractor who lives in Reykjavik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sant Antoni, on the northern side of the Spanish island of Ibiza, a cloud covered the sun halfway through the eclipse. \u201cThis is a scam,\u201d said Chelo Ortega, one of many people who were watching from the seafront promenade. \u201cMaybe they\u2019ll do a rerun tomorrow,\u201d her husband, Juli\u00e1n G\u00f3mez, joked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few impatient onlookers had started getting up to leave when, suddenly, the sun reappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The light dropped, and people began to shout. It briefly turned to night over the sea, and the sun\u2019s fiery corona came into view. Thousands of phone screens were raised toward the sight as people applauded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n