Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Millions of people gathered across Spain on Wednesday to watch a total solar eclipse, with many heading to cities, towns and open viewing points under clear skies for a rare event that had not been seen in the country for more than a century. The eclipse began early in the evening and was expected to briefly plunge parts of the planet into darkness as the sun, moon and Earth aligned.
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Spain was among the best places in mainland Europe to see the eclipse, with views also possible from a sliver of Greenland and Iceland, weather permitting. Totality, when the moon fully blocks the sun’s light, was expected to last less than two-and-a-half minutes at its longest, off Iceland’s west coast. By the time it reached a small part of Portugal and then Spain just before sunset, it was expected to last around a minute, before ending over the Mediterranean.
Across Spain, people arrived with lawn chairs, umbrellas and hats as they waited for the spectacle. In Medinaceli, a Roman-era hilltop town in north-eastern Spain, sky watchers secured grassy viewing spots hours in advance and filled restaurants and bars. “It’s the first time in my lifetime that I’ll get to see a total eclipse in Spain,” said 24-year-old physics student scar Prez, who travelled from Germany to the town to witness the event. “I’m not sure where the next one is, so it’ll be great to see it.”
Spanish authorities mounted a large public safety campaign as the event came during scorching summer temperatures and ongoing wildfires. Officials said the eclipse could draw at least an additional half a million visitors, while demand for hotel rooms along the path of totality, including in A Corua, Bilbao and Santiago de Compostela, had surged. The Interior Ministry said 350 official viewing sites had been set up across the sparsely populated interior, often called “Empty Spain”, while access to another 123 sites had been limited or restricted because of environmental conditions or obstacles that could hamper an evacuation in the event of a wildfire.
Only weeks ago, the most destructive wildfire in Spanish history burned through 500 square kilometres and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in vila in central Spain. Several smaller wildfires remained active in other southern and central parts of the country. The ministry said more than 33,500 law enforcement officers would be deployed to observation areas and access points. “High temperatures, the accumulated dryness of vegetation, and the intense pressure on natural areas due to projected travel necessitate extreme preventive measures,” Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said. Temperatures rose above 35 degrees Celsius in many viewing areas on Wednesday, and authorities urged visitors not to light fires, litter or park in places with dry vegetation.
Officials also stressed the need for proper eye protection. “To look at the sun, you must always use proper protection, and the most suitable protection is eclipse glasses,” said Telmo Fernndez Castro, director of the Madrid Planetarium. He said the glasses use special filters that block solar radiation that can damage the eyes. Supermarkets, department stores, museums and planetariums across Spain had been selling or distributing the glasses for months, but many pharmacies ran out ahead of Wednesday. On Tuesday evening, a long queue formed outside a photo shop in central Madrid beneath a sign saying, “We carry eclipse glasses.” One woman came out and told those waiting: “He has boxes and boxes of them!”
In eastern Greenland, MS Spitsbergen captain Sverre Rud was circling the waters of Rypefjord in a bid to place his ship in the best position for 126 passengers to watch the eclipse. Throughout the day, passengers had been asking whether he had found the right spot, with cloud-free skies crucial to their chances. “I will do my best,” Rud said. “I will pull out my superman powers.” The passengers, on a 17-day cruise mostly north of the Arctic Circle and used to 24 hours of daylight, were expecting two minutes of darkness. “Everyone is very enthusiastic,” Rud said. “When we were down for breakfast earlier, it was almost like a little bit of a Christmas Eve feeling here.”
The eclipse also pushed up hotel prices in Iceland, where people were preparing for the country’s first total solar eclipse since 1954 and the first visible from Reykjavk since 1433. Rooms in the capital were averaging more than USD 1,000 for Wednesday night, about double 2025 rates, according to Lighthouse Intelligence. Authorities expected up to 20,000 additional overseas visitors during an already busy tourist period, although forecasts suggested cloudy skies across most of the island when the eclipse peaked. The 70-room Hotel Keflavk in Reykjanesbaer was fully booked with guests hoping to see about one minute and 45 seconds of totality.
“Eclipse time, of course, has been very demanding, and many people came to us early, like last year,” said hotel owner and manager Steinór Jónsson. He said he had seen nothing like it since 1986, when the hotel opened and US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev held their summit in Reykjavk. “When I opened the hotel, we had Reagan and Gorbachev meeting. It was very hectic here,” he said with a smile. “Besides Reagan and Gorbachev, the eclipse is the biggest.” Overall, the eclipse drew huge crowds, prompted extensive safety measures and sparked intense demand for viewing gear and accommodation across parts of Spain, Greenland and Iceland.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
