Total solar eclipse in Galicia

On 12 August 2026, late in the day, the Moon passed exactly in front of the Sun over northern Spain. It was the first total solar eclipse visible from mainland Spain since 1905, and part of Galicia lay inside the path of totality.

The series follows the event step by step. First a small notch in the solar disc, which widens into a thinner and thinner crescent. The light drops, colours turn cold, the air cools. Then, for less than two minutes, the Sun disappears: all that remains is a black disc edged with a thin red rim, the chromosphere, and surrounded by the solar corona, the Sun's outer atmosphere, which can only be seen at that moment.

The last two images show the other side of an eclipse: the people who came to see it that evening. An observer standing by a car, facing the darkened sky; then, at the end of the day, a small group settled on camping chairs facing the setting sun.

These royalty-free photos can illustrate an article about the 2026 eclipse, an astronomy lesson or a story about celestial events, and can be downloaded for free on Pexels. Next event in Spain: the total eclipse of 2 August 2027, across the south of the country.