Cala Tarida, Ibiza, 12 August 2026
The total solar eclipse of 12 August 2026 crossed Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain before reaching the Balearic Islands shortly before sunset. We planned the whole trip around it. Cala Tarida, on Ibiza's west coast, was inside the path of totality and faced a clear sea horizon to the west, which mattered more than anything else. Totality there was due at about 20:32 and would last around 67 seconds, with the Sun only about three degrees above the water and only twenty minutes before it set.
Finding the spot
The day before, we took the bus out from Ibiza Town to scout the cove. I wanted to know exactly where I'd be standing, which way the Sun would drop and what would be in the foreground, so there'd be no guesswork on the night.
On eclipse day we caught the 1pm bus back out, had lunch at 17, an Italian restaurant right on the water, and swam off the old fishermen's huts in the cove while boats played music offshore. By 7pm I was set up with a solar filter on the long lens, and the partial eclipse began at 19:39.
The partial phases
The first frames show an ordinary Sun with a scatter of sunspots. Then the Moon took its first small bite out of the edge, and over the next hour the crescent grew steadily as the Sun dropped towards the water. Everything up to this point was shot through the filter, which is why the sky in those frames is black.
Haze and thin cloud came and went through the partial phases, turning the sky a deep orange and softening the crescent in some frames.
Totality, out of sight
Low on the horizon the cloud was thicker, and at totality it hid the Sun completely. The light around us went dim and strange, which was eerie in itself, but the 67 seconds we had travelled for passed out of sight. After months of looking forward to it, that was a real disappointment.
A crescent sunset
What I hadn't expected was how good the next twenty minutes would be. The Sun came back as a crescent and carried on down to the horizon. Still partly eclipsed as it set at 20:53, it went into the sea as a thin curved sliver rather than a round disc, with small fishing boats and a single sailboat silhouetted beneath it.
After sunset the orange faded, and Es Vedrà stood out along the coast with yachts anchored below it as blue hour set in.
If you're planning one
A low eclipse is all about the horizon. With the Sun only a few degrees up, even a thin band of haze over the sea can hide it, so check the forecast for low cloud as well as the sky overhead, and have a second spot in mind if you can get to it. Scout the place the day before, ideally at the same time of evening. And plan how you'll get home. Our pre-booked taxi cancelled, and with half of Ibiza trying to get a lift at once it took nearly three hours to find another. We waited it out back at 17 with dinner and sangria, which isn't the worst way to end a day.
Looking back
Cloud took totality, but the partial phases and the crescent sunset are all here, and I don't expect to watch the Sun set into the sea as a crescent again. If you're planning for the next one, the total eclipse of 2 August 2027 crosses the Strait of Gibraltar and most of Cádiz province. Ibiza will only see a partial eclipse that time.
