The first challenge for the three-eclipse commission: determining the massive turnout for the 2026 eclipse

After creating the interministerial commission for the 2026-2027-2028 eclipse trio in Spain on Tuesday, the Government intends to quickly boost the national plan to guarantee safety during the observation of these "extraordinary astronomical phenomena." The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Universities, Juan Cruz Cigudosa, will convene the first meeting of this working group, which brings together 13 ministries, on August 28, according to the Science Ministry confirmed to EL PAÍS.

The royal decree just approved by the Council of Ministers establishes a one-month deadline for the inter-ministerial commission to be established. And the future president, Cigudosa, doesn't intend to wait another day for this group to begin its work. Time is running out, with just over a year to go until the first of the total eclipses in this trio, which will cross diagonally across northern Spain and is expected to cause a massive influx of visitors . "Determining the number of people this event can mobilize in 2026 will be one of the priorities of this first meeting," according to sources from the Ministry of Science.

The text of the recently approved royal decree mentions an estimate of the expected minimal impact, citing "the influx of hundreds of thousands of people, especially in the time slots where the first two eclipses can be seen as total." However, all the experts consulted by this newspaper agree that it won't be just hundreds of thousands, but several million people who will want to witness the total occultation of the sun by the moon's disk at the end of the sunset on August 12, 2026.

Given the increasingly massive expectation generated by eclipses—as was evident in the last two in North America—these experts point out that for most living Europeans , this will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity . Not only has a total eclipse not been seen in mainland Spain since 1905, but what happened in 1999, when one crossed multiple countries on the old continent, will not happen again until 2081. The 2026 eclipse will only cross one country in the world: “This total eclipse will be in Spain, and in August. We're going to have half of Europe here,” José Jiménez, director of the astronomical tourism company AstroÁndalus, explained to this newspaper .

In announcing the inter-ministerial commission it will lead, the Ministry of Science advances that "it will be necessary, for example, to ensure safe mobility, as mass travel to the areas where the total eclipse can best be observed is expected." The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, which will co-lead this working group, will play a key role in the special operation, which will also require the involvement of Civil Protection and the DGT (Directorate-General for Traffic). "Furthermore, places where large numbers of people can access the eclipses by car must be provided with minimum services (supplies of water and food). The high risk of fires in these areas must also be anticipated, or the eyesight of those who attend must be protected," the Government warns.

A map for safe observation

Simply estimating realistic visitor numbers for next summer's eclipse will require the participation of a large portion of the 13 ministries that make up the newly created commission, including the Interior, Defense, Industry and Tourism, and Territorial Policy. In parallel, the other major initial organizational challenge will be "establishing a first map of the safest places from which to view them."

While the National Geographic Institute (IGN) has already released the official maps for the 2026-2027-2028 eclipse trio this month, these are only a first approximation for the public. They indicate whether the eclipse will be total in a given location, or even a specific street, at what time, and whether it will be visible there. This is in theory; because in practice, experts point out, with the sun already as low at sunset as it will be during the 2026 total eclipse, it's easy for obstacles such as trees or buildings, and the geographical relief on the horizon, to obstruct the view. None of these fine details appear on the IGN maps so far.

And finally, there's the weather. In the ideal scenario where the population has pre-chosen an official eclipse viewing spot, a forecast of cloudy skies could force thousands of people to change their location at the last minute. Eclipses will mobilize almost as many ministries as the 2030 World Cup, but with unprecedented organizational and logistical challenges: "Due to the unpredictability of weather conditions, it's as if we don't know where the World Cup final will be held until a few hours beforehand," says astrophysicist Alejandro Sánchez.