Many people in the world have never seen a solar eclipsedespite There are usually between 2 and 5 in a year. The reason is that yes, they are relatively common; But, unlike the lunar eclipse, which is seen in all places where it is night at that time, the solar eclipse is seen in a very small strip of territory. In general, They usually spend between 300 and 400 years for an eclipse to repeat itself in the same place.
Therefore, that In 2026, 2027 and 2028 there will be three solar eclipses visible from Spain is most peculiar. It is true that not all of them will be total, since the third will be annular, and that they will not be seen from the same points in the country, but, even so, it is something rare. Now, just because it is rare does not mean that it is impossible, since in mainland Spain we already had another trio of eclipses a little over a century ago. The first was in 1900, the second in 1905 and the third in 1912. They were not three consecutive years, as will happen with this Iberian trio, but they were very close dates for what is usually normal.
May 28, 1900: a total solar eclipse that left the railway without tickets
The first of these solar eclipses took place on May 28, 1900with the onset of totality at 14:53 UTC. The strip of totality, in which the complete occultation of the Sun could be seen, measured 70 kilometers wide and It extended from the north of Extremadura to Elche. Although there was still a lot of superstition surrounding eclipses, they were already beginning to be seen as something positive and, above all, as a spectacle worth experiencing. For this reason, thousands of people traveled to the locations of the strip of totality to witness it.
The strip of totality was from the north of Extremadura to Elche
Two of the most visited places were Plasencia and Navalmoral de la Matain Cáceres. This last town was the one that attracted the largest audience, with more than 4,000 railway tickets sold from Madrid. The influx was so great that when the tickets were sold out it was decided to release another edition, with a 25% increase in price. Still, many people bought them. Nobody wanted to miss this event that attracted scientists from Spain, England, France and Ireland. In Spain, the photographs taken by Manuel Gil, a science professor at the Central University of Madrid (the current Complutense University) stood out.
There was great media coverage and many anecdoteslike those who said that the bees revolutionized, the sheep bleated uncontrollably and the storks returned to their nests. Night fell shortly after noon and this baffled the animals and fascinated the humans.
August 30, 1905, the eclipse that ended religious prejudices
Although in 1900 religious prejudices were slowly beginning to be put aside, they were still quite present. However, possibly the fact of seeing a solar eclipse and the world not ending led to the 1905 eclipse being received much more calmly among the general population. Totality, which began at 13:03 UTC on August 30, was observed in a strip from the north of Galicia to the north of the Valencian Community, passing through Castilla y León and Aragón. It lasted more than 3 minutes in some of these locations.
Specifically, The center of the strip was in the town of Quintanillain Burgos, although the places where it was best seen were Burgos capital and the Leonese town of Cistierna. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best, so there were many places where the clouds They prevented the viewing of the eclipse.
Despite that, this total solar eclipse had great media and scientific coverage, with astronomers from all over Europe meeting mostly in Burgos and León.
April 17, 1912, a peculiar eclipse
The solar eclipse of April 17, 1912 It was quite peculiarbecause it was a mixed annular-total eclipse. There was a very small strip of totality, just a few meters long, in northwest Spain. Furthermore, that totality lasted only a few seconds, so very few people were able to see it. On the other hand, annularity was seen in a larger area of land, from Porto to Gijón. During an annular eclipse it is not night, but rather the Moon hides the center of the Sun, which is seen as a kind of bright disk.
It attracted the attention of many astronomers, both Spanish and French, who gathered mostly in the Leonese town of Cacabelos. However, being so short, it did not attract as much of the general population and much less the press, which was busy with international news such as the sinking of the famous Titanic.
October 2, 1959: the Canary Islands
It is often said that 1912 was the last total solar eclipse in Spain. However, this is an unfair statement, since in 1959 one took place in the Canary Islandswhich also attracted a lot of national and international press and scientists.
Totality occurred from 9:26 UTC and could be seen in La Orotava, Santa Úrsula, La Victoria, La Matanza, Tegueste, La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, el Rosario and Arafo in Tenerife, Las Palmas Santa Brígida, Ingenio, Telde and San Bartolomé de Tirajana in Gran Canaria and the Jandía area in Fuerteventura.
That was the last total solar eclipse in Spain, but only until now. Soon we will be able to enjoy one more. And then another. And another one. How can we not be excited, releasing one news item after another? It is a very special period.
Image | Wikimedia Commons colored with Gemini | Ministry of Defense
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