What to do in Salou: see the total sun eclipse

Salou. Costa Dorada. 16 November 2025. Salou is one of the 20 Catalan municipalities where on August 12, 2026 you will be able to observe an astronomical phenomenon that cannot be seen in Catalonia for 121 years: a total eclipse of the sun. The last thing that could be seen in our latitudes was on August 30, 1905, and for this reason a great expectation has been awakened. We tell you everything you need to know to enjoy this show of the celestial stars.

What is a total eclipse of the sun and how does it occur?

It is an astronomical phenomenon that occurs when the Moon interposes between the Sun and the planet Earth, and does not allow the star to be seen at all. In order for it to occur, two conditions must be met. 

The first is a perfect alignment between the 3 stars, the Sun, the Moon and the Earth. The second is an apparent coincidence of the diameter of the Sun and the Moon. Although the Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun, the king star is 400 km farther than the Moon on Earth. However, in its orbit around our planet, the Moon is located at a distance that allows an apparent diameter of the Moon equal to or greater than the Sun to occur.

The total eclipse is only visible on the narrow band of about 200 kilometers in which the Moon projects its shadow on Earth. 

When will the total eclipse of the sun be visible in Salou and how long will it last?

The total eclipse of the sun on August 12, 2026 can be seen in its maximum phase in Salou at 8:30 p.m. and will last approximately 1 minute and 8 seconds. Before you can see the movement of the stars until this moment of totality occurs and then you will see how the Moon will continue its trajectory and stop "staining" the Sun. 

Apart from Salou and the other 19 Catalan municipalities where you can see the total eclipse of the sun, in the rest of the Catalan territory you can see the partial eclipse.

The Government of Catalonia has drawn up the list of the 20 municipalities as official observation points for the total sun eclipse based on 3 criteria:

• that the duration of the observation of the eclipse exceeds 55 seconds 
• that the population exceeds 3,000 inhabitants
• that there is good visibility of the Sun just before sunset, at 8:30 p.m., when the eclipse must occur.

Salou more than meets the 3 conditions and for this reason will participate in the device that will organize the Generalitat to facilitate the observation of the total solar eclipse by the population.

What do you need to do to safely look at a total sun eclipse?

To safely enjoy the observation of the total eclipse of the sun on August 12, 2026 it is necessary to protect your eyes properly all the time during the different phases of the eclipse, except for the time that lasts the totality, which in Salou will be approximately 1 minute and 8 seconds, at most. To see the total solar eclipse it is recommended to use glasses approved with the ISO 12312-2 certification.

It is not recommended to use other homemade methods such as normal sunglasses, smoked glass, CDs or x-rays, or others by the style, since none of them filters infrared radiation from the Sun that can damage the sight (can produce burns in the retina). It should be noted that infrared light is not visible to the human eye, and precisely for this reason its name is composed of the suffix “infra” (below), but it is responsible for the sensacon of heat in the skin when we are exposed to the sun.

What to do in Salou: see the total sun eclipse