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Madrid, Spain: Spain, one of the few places in the world where a total solar eclipse will be visible in August, has begun preparations for an event it hopes will shift tourism away from the beaches and toward the countryside.
Aside from Spain, the next total solar eclipse will also be visible in Greenland, Iceland, Russia and a small portion of Portugal, with a partial eclipse in other parts of Europe and western Africa.
The Spanish government said in a statement on Thursday that the Iberian Peninsula "will be the only populated place in the world where the total solar eclipse of August 12 can be fully enjoyed, the first of its kind visible in our country in more than 100 years".
At its peak, when the moon completely covers the sun, darkening the sky in the middle of the day, the eclipse will last just over two minutes in Spain.
The government said Thursday it has selected the Yebes Observatory in the central province of Guadalajara -- a key node in global radio astronomy networks -- as the official monitoring centre for the eclipse.
It will be the first of three major eclipses Spain will experience between 2026 and 2028.
On August 2, 2027, a second total solar eclipse with an unusually long duration of six minutes will cross southern Spain, while an annular eclipse -- in which the moon does not fully cover the sun, leaving a bright ring -- is expected in January 2028.
