Rome, August 12, 2026 – Anticipation is growing for the solar eclipse that will cross Greenland, Iceland, and Spain this evening, where the shadow cone will leave the Earth at sunset, just beyond the Balearic Islands, over the Mediterranean. A preview that will make us savor the most spectacular eclipse of next year, of a completely different magnitude, with a totality that will approach 6 and a half minutes, one of the longest of the century. The eclipse will then cross a thin strip of land and sea starting from Arctic Russia, passing through Greenland, touching some regions in the far west of Iceland, a very small portion of Portugal, and a wide band of Spain. The totality will not last long, between one and a half and two minutes, exceeding two minutes only off the coast of Iceland and in some locations in Greenland.
This is the first total solar eclipse on the European continent since 1999 (excluding those of 2006 and 2015, which affected some parts of Georgia and Russia, and the Faroe Islands and Svalbard, respectively). The rare and highly anticipated event will occur shortly before sunset and will be visible, although partially, also from Italy: it will take place starting around 7:30 PM, Italian time, with the Sun already low on the horizon and near sunset, reaching the intermediate phase around 7:50 PM and the peak at 8:20 PM.
The most favored Italian regions
The most favored regions are those in the north and west: Piedmont, Aosta Valley, Liguria, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, and Sardinia, with a darkening of the solar disk reaching 90 percent and above, while the central and southern regions of Italy will be affected by the phenomenon to a lesser extent. Unlike a total eclipse, during a partial eclipse the Sun is never completely obscured and the solar corona is not visible, not even at the peak of the event.
Liguria will be among the best regions to admire the eclipse, with the sun covered by the moon’s disk for about 95%. Certified glasses for safely observing the eclipse are selling fast. “Eye health comes before the show: do not look directly at the solar eclipse,” emphasizes the Liguria Region Health Councillor and ophthalmologist Massimo Nicolò. “The eclipse is a fascinating event, but one must not forget that looking directly at the sun can cause serious and irreversible damage. Therefore, the message I want to convey to citizens is very simple: do not look at the solar eclipse without certified devices, sunglasses are not enough to protect your vision.”
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The event live from 7:15 PM
On this occasion, you can follow the NASA live stream from 7:15 PM and from 7:30 PM the show from the Rome and Milan skylines, also live. Shortly before the event, we will publish the video links here. The National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), in collaboration with the Italian Union of Amateur Astronomers (UAI) and the Association of Italian Planetariums (PLANit), will also organize a live stream with telescope observations of the event, broadcast starting at 7:30 PM on the EduINAF YouTube channel and on the INAF and UAI Facebook channels. Images of the partial eclipse will be broadcast from the UAI sections of Cremona and La Spezia, and images of the totality – expected in Spain around 8:30 PM, Italian time – produced by TimeAndDate.com.
Sánchez will watch the show from Lanzarote
Just a few hours until the awaited solar eclipse. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will watch the show from the official residence La Mareta, in Lanzarote, where it will be possible to observe the partial eclipse. This was confirmed by government sources to Europa Press. In other areas of Spain, it will be possible to witness the total eclipse. The band of totality extends from west to east, from Galicia to the Balearic Islands. In Lanzarote, the maximum obscuration will approach 74%.
