This Friday, March 20th, there will be a total eclipse of the sun, and a partial eclipse will be visible in Spain. Between 8.57 and 11.29am on Friday morning Spain will enter a time of darkness, as the country experiences its most impressive eclipse in a decade.
The passage of the moon in front of the sun, although spectacular, will not be a ‘total’ eclipse in this part of Europe – this will be visible only in Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Greenland and far northern Europe. According to Spain’s National Astronomical Observatory, the maximum eclipse, of around 90 per cent, will be visible at just after 10.00am.
That should be the case – but this of course depends to a large extent on the weather, with current forecasts for the end of the week predicting unstable weather conditions.
While the eclipse will be visible across the entire country, the intensity will differ depending on where in Spain you are. A Coruña, in Galicia in the north east of the country will enjoy the best views of the eclipse (76 percent darkness), with the experience decreasing in intensity the further south you go. The Canary Islands will experience the lowest intensity eclipse with around 45 percent darkness.
It is not a total eclipse, so the effect will be much more gradual than an end-of-the-world plunge into darkness. “If it was a total eclipse like it will be in the Faroe Islands, it would be very noticeable, but (here in Spain) it will be much more gradual,” astronomer Mario Tafalla told the Spanish Huffington Post.
