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Spain’s August eclipse spectacular may have only just happened, but the countdown to the next big celestial show is already driving a fresh wave of travel bookings.

 

The total solar eclipse of August 12, 2026 put Spain firmly on the map for eclipse chasers, with thousands of visitors travelling to locations along the path of totality to experience the Moon passing directly in front of the Sun.

 

Now, attention is already turning to Monday August 2, 2027, when another total solar eclipse will cross southern Spain.

 

Far from being a minor repeat of this year’s event, the 2027 eclipse will give parts of Spain an even longer spell of totality. The path will pass through almost the whole of Cádiz province, large parts of Málaga and the southernmost parts of Granada and Almería, as well as covering the whole of Ceuta and Melilla. Gibraltar will also be directly in the path.

 

The rest of Spain won’t miss out completely either. The eclipse will be visible as a partial eclipse across the country, with at least 70% of the Sun obscured from anywhere in Spanish territory. For those within the narrow band of totality, however, the experience will be considerably more dramatic.

 

Ceuta will get the longest period of totality in Spain at around 4 minutes and 48 seconds, while Cádiz will experience almost three minutes and Málaga close to two minutes. Gibraltar will get roughly four and a half minutes, putting the Rock among the most accessible places in Europe to watch the Moon completely cover the Sun.

 

The event is already having an impact on travel plans. According to easyJet, bookings by British travellers to destinations along the eclipse's path have jumped by around 70%, with bookings to Spanish destinations including Seville, Málaga and Almería up 69% since the August 2026 eclipse. Gibraltar has also seen a 29% increase in bookings.

 

Accommodation is also starting to become harder to find. A recent search by Euronews Travel for a three-night stay in Seville from August 1 showed 87% of accommodation options as unavailable for those dates. In Gibraltar, the figure was even higher at around 98%. These figures are a snapshot of availability rather than proof that every room has been booked, but they show just how much interest there is already more than 10 months before the event.

 

The reason for the growing excitement is partly the timing of the 2027 eclipse. At its greatest point in Egypt, totality will last for an extraordinary 6 minutes and 23 seconds, making it one of the longest total solar eclipses of the century and the longest visible from easily accessible land until 2114. By comparison, the maximum duration during the 2026 eclipse was around 2 minutes and 18 seconds.

 

The growing interest is part of a wider rise in astrotourism, with travellers increasingly planning holidays around astronomical events rather than simply choosing a destination and seeing what happens to be taking place there. The Northern Lights have helped fuel that trend in recent years, while the run of major eclipses across the Iberian Peninsula in 2026, 2027 and 2028 is giving Spain an unusual place in the astrotourism calendar.

 

 

Image generated by AI