Day turned into almost night in parts of Spain and Portugal, on Wednesday, after the moon completely obscured the disk of the sun in an exceptional astronomical scene, recording the first total eclipse that Spain had witnessed in more than a century, with millions of people gathering to watch the rare moment.

As the eclipse approached, movement in the streets, squares and fields stopped, and observers raised their protective glasses towards the sky, before the light quickly decreased and the sun’s corona appeared around the disk of the moon, amid the applause and shouts of the crowds.

In the Spanish town of Medinaceli, thousands of visitors gathered in the open lands, some of whom arrived hours earlier equipped with cameras and telescopes, while others came from the United States, Japan, and European countries specifically to witness the phenomenon.

The path of the total eclipse extended from Greenland and Iceland across the Atlantic Ocean, reaching northern, central and eastern Spain, before ending over the Mediterranean Sea near the Balearic Islands. According to NASA, large areas of Europe and North Africa witnessed a partial eclipse of varying degrees.

Spanish cities, including Bilbao, Burgos, Leon, Zaragoza and Valencia, were plunged into darkness for periods ranging from seconds to about two minutes, while Madrid and Barcelona remained outside the path of the total eclipse by a small margin, despite the disappearance of more than 99% of the sun’s disk in them.

In Portugal, the eclipse was partial in most areas, while a small patch in the far northeast, near Montesinho Park in Bragança, witnessed a total eclipse for a short period.

During the phenomenon, a sudden decrease in light and temperature was recorded, in addition to a change in the behavior of some birds and animals, while circulated clips showed street lights working automatically and birds returning to their places of residence before the light returned.

Spain prepared for the event by establishing about 350 official viewing sites and deploying tens of thousands of security and emergency personnel, while European reports estimated the number of people gathered inside the eclipse path in the country at about 6 million people, including hundreds of thousands of tourists.

Wednesday’s eclipse marks the beginning of what is known as the “trilogy of eclipses” in the Iberian Peninsula, as Spain is scheduled to witness another total eclipse in August 2027, followed by an annular eclipse in January 2028.