Eclipse for history: "This only happens once in a lifetime"

BarcelonaNot even the guitarist of Queen wanted to miss it. Brian May was just one of the hundreds of thousands of people who on Wednesday dropped everything to experience a minute and a half that is already history: the only total solar eclipse that will be seen in Catalonia —and in part of the Iberian Peninsula— in more than a century. From the bar of the Trabucador in the Ebro Delta, from a cove in Mallorca, from the Prades mountains, or even from an industrial estate in Valls or from a neighborhood municipal football field in Lleida. Neither the heat nor the fear that the clouds would cause trouble hindered this astronomical phenomenon for which Catalonia had been preparing for more than a year.

"This only happens once in a lifetime," explained Sara and Mia, mother and daughter from Ripollet, from the Trabucador bar, who wanted to arrive early to be among the first to get a privileged spot to see the minute and a half of darkness. At this point in the Delta at six in the morning, dozens of caravans were already filling the parking lots in the area. Being the most foresighted, however, also had a price to pay: the heat of the hours of waiting under the sun, as in several parts of Catalonia the thermometer exceeded 40°C. Camping chairs, umbrellas, fans, and water bottles were the main tools to overcome the long wait until the evening. In fact, in some football fields where observation points have been organized, such as in L'Ametlla de Mar, sprinklers have also been activated to cool off during the afternoon.

However, at the moment the moon covered the sun, all the discomforts were completely forgotten. The light gave way to darkness and many began a choreography of movements to put on and take off their glasses while commenting on the play. At La Seu Vella, in Lleida, many described the scene as "magical" and celebrated the culminating moment with collective applause. “Suddenly it became night, everyone fell silent and, with so many people, that silence impacted me a lot,” explained Josep Cangulells in statements to the ACN from Les Borges Blanques, where up to 5,000 tickets were distributed to see the eclipse. "It gave me goosebumps," admitted Josep Maria from Marina Port Tarraco in Tarragona, where up to 15,000 fans gathered.

At the Roquetes Observatory of the Ebre, at the peak of the eclipse, tears of emotion were also seen. There, 300 people were fascinated by the darkness, including President Salvador Illa and the Minister of Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat. Both agreed in remarking that the phenomenon had been "a gift from nature." "Looking at the sky from here is a gesture and a tribute to the work done, to the scientific work done from here," celebrated Illa.

In Barcelona, where the phenomenon was seen partially with 99.8%, many tried to climb to places like Montjuïc Castle or the stands of the Magic Mountain pool to enjoy the moment. Some hotels in the Catalan capital, such as the Barceló Raval, also organized events on the top floors to watch the eclipse. In their case, demand exceeded expectations, and they had to turn away several guests who tried to go up to the rooftop without a reservation. "We had booked because we've been up to the terrace before to watch the sunset, and we didn't want to miss this one. Plus, you pay for a drink and they give you the glasses," explained, in English—despite living in Catalonia—Paty and Bryan, mojito in hand.

Other Catalans decided to move to other parts of Spain. This is the case for some members of the Sabadell Astronomical Association who chose a village in Burgos—as NASA also did to broadcast the eclipse worldwide—to experience this historic moment. In contrast, several fans of the Barcelona Astronomical Association (ASTER) traveled to the Gallocanta lagoon in Teruel. In fact, several Catalans opted for this area, such as Mireya and Ferran, who watched the eclipse from a hill in Muniesa. Additionally, they took the opportunity to try their luck: "I bought a lottery ticket today, let's see if we're lucky," she explained.

The chaos to arrive.... and to leave

The magic of just over 90 seconds of darkness for many was preceded by long hours of queues, which were also repeated when returning home. Although in full August many opted to leave hours or days before the eclipse—the Servei Català de Trànsit already registered an increase in vehicle traffic on the AP-7 on Sunday and Monday—this Wednesday at midday and in the early afternoon, traffic jams to travel south have been recurring. In fact, more than 30 kilometers of queues accumulated on the AP-7 during the afternoon, and there were also traffic jams on the A-2 in Martorell and on the C-31 on the Costes del Garraf. “The GPS says we’ll arrive later and later…”, Marta explained anxiously to ARA. Despite leaving at a quarter past three from Cerdanyola del Vallès to arrive on time to see the eclipse in one of the designated areas in Les Borges Blanques, she was worried because by mid-afternoon she had been stopped on the A2 near Cervera for a while.

The Government's main recommendation for getting around was to try to avoid the AP-7 to prevent saturation of this road, but those who also encountered problems were those who chose the train to travel to the point where they would see the eclipse. On the platforms of Sants and Sant Vicenç de Calder stations, there were significant crowds of people trying to catch a train to the point that Protecció Civil had to activate the pre-alert of the Ferrocat plan. Furthermore, several users complained on social media that people were traveling crammed inside the trains and some had suffered dizziness due to the heat. To all this, a new incident at Castelldefels station had to be added, which caused delays of 30 minutes on the R2 Sud and Regionals Sud trains.

To return, for now, traffic on the AP-7 is not problematic, but there is significant saturation at the train stations. Especially at the stations of Tarragona and Tortosa, where there are scenes of platforms saturated with passengers trying to catch one of the trains that is already arriving full to go home.