I guess you can call Korri and me official eclipse chasers now! 😆 We saw the 2017 total solar eclipse right in our backyard (our first!), flew to Texas for the 2024 total solar eclipse, and recently returned from Spain, where we were fortunate to witness our third total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026!

I’ve decided that total solar eclipses are the most incredible natural phenomenon you can see with your own eyeballs. Standing within 100% totality is otherworldly. It is impossible to describe just how mesmerizing it is to be in the shadow of the moon with a 360° sunrise on the horizon. And photos, while many are gorgeous, just cannot fully capture what you see with your own eyes.

Even though totality lasted a little under two minutes where we were in Spain, we flew across the ocean anyway because it’s an experience that can’t be missed. (Unfortunately, even though Korri’s parents joined us for the 2017 and 2024 eclipses, they didn’t join us in Spain this time.)

Below, I shared all about our experience seeing the 2026 total solar eclipse in Spain! It was another mind-blowing experience and I’m excited to share all the details in this post to inspire you to see one of the next total solar eclipses (and I do mean TOTAL—partial is not good enough; the difference is actually night and day).

READ NEXT: 2024 Total Solar Eclipse in Texas

2026 Total Solar Eclipse in Leon, Spain | Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair

2026 Total Solar Eclipse in Spain

Planning Our Trip

When I saw the path for the 2026 total solar eclipse, I originally wanted to go to Mallorca. The eclipse at sunset from a beach?! Heaven! I changed my mind when I realized that everyone else had the same idea and it wouldn’t be easy to get there or inexpensive to stay. Plus, the eclipse was going to last longer over mainland Spain (only by a handful of seconds, but those seconds count!). Iceland would have been fun, but the risk of cloud cover was too high.

In April 2025, Korri and I were talking yet again about the 2026 eclipse and trying to figure out where we might want to try to see it. Even though I prefer to get as close to the centerline as possible (like we did in Texas in 2024), I also wanted to be in a city or town accessible by train and that had accommodations.

After studying the eclipse path over Spain, I decided that our best options for minimal chances of cloud cover in August would be Burgos or León. Both of those towns were about the same distance away from the centerline. (I also looked along the eastern coast of Spain. That would have been such a fun location, but the risk of clouds was higher.)

Of course, I checked out hotels in those areas and happened to find availability in León (and no availability in Burgos; either the hotels were booked or not able to be booked that far in advance). I booked our room in León for four nights for less than $400 total and held my breath for over a year hoping that the hotel wouldn’t cancel on us!

We honestly didn’t plan the rest of our trip until a month or two before we left (basically once we had our flights booked). We were fully planning on not going if we couldn’t find flights, but luckily we snagged some with points and miles. After that, we kept our fingers crossed for clear skies (and no wildfire smoke) over León on August 12!

Before The Eclipse

Korri and I ended up sleeping in until lunch time on the day of the eclipse. We were on vacation, though, so it’s fine (and the eclipse was late in the day). I definitely appreciated that over getting no sleep like what happened in Texas! We had a lazy afternoon before heading out into the heat to check out the European Space Agency (ESA) event being held for the eclipse.

It was a sunny and HOT day in León. I was so happy to see no clouds! We walked through town just past the train station to the Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones de León (Palace of Congresses and Exhibitions of León) where the ESA event was being held. There were so many people out and about. I’m not sure how it compared to a typical summer day in León, but it sure seemed like a lot of folks were in town for the eclipse.

Unfortunately, we missed the action earlier in the day, and the main ESA event didn’t start until 5:30 pm, so we ended up leaving so we could trek to our viewing location. There were a lot of folks waiting to get in, though, and they streamed the eclipse live from that spot!

We stopped at our hotel to grab the necessities before heading out on our hour-ish walk east of town towards Las Lomas. I brought along my packable folding chair, portable fan, umbrella that I bought in town to provide shade from the sun, sunscreen, Solar Snap eclipse glasses and phone camera solar filters, and a cheap colander for pinhole projections.

We swung by multiple grocery stores to grab water and snacks on our way. It was almost impossible to find cold water. Most of the water was just sitting on shelves! What do Spaniards have against cold water?! Haha. Luckily, we managed to find cold water at one grocery store. We also grabbed Pringles and a box of Calippo strawberry popsicles—yum!

Partial Solar Eclipse

Korri and I trekked east through Parque de la Candamia, crossed a bridge over Rio Torio, and hiked up to Mirador La Candamia to watch the eclipse along with hundreds of others in the vicinity. We arrived at our viewing location overlooking León about 15 minutes before the partial eclipse, which kicked off at 7:32 pm.

It was so hot out, and I was happy to have brought my chair to sit on something other than the dirt ground. Korri and I snacked and periodically checking on the moon’s progress over the sun. People continued to hike up to our area throughout the duration of the partial solar eclipse. I loved hearing the multitude of languages being spoken!

Like with eclipses past, the sky dimmed more noticeably the closer we got to totality, and everything took on a sepia tone (maybe a darker sepia this time because it was closer to sunset). I heard the crickets going within about 10 minutes of totality. The drop in temperature was so appreciated after walking and hiking in the heat!

Total Solar Eclipse!

All of our eclipse experiences were slightly different from each other. This time, we were surrounded by people AND up on a hillside with a decent view of the horizon (and mountains) all around us. We had the same weird muted, sepia coloring as the moon’s shadow covered more of the sun, the drop in temperature (and subsequent drop in humidity), and you could hear the birds and insects winding down because of the low light.

That photo above of the approaching shadow is the last one I snapped before totality. It was taken moments before the moon fully covered the sun (and wasn’t edited, except for the dumb auto-editing the iPhone does), so you can truly see what 99.5% looks like. It still looks like daylight. It’s LITERALLY day and night between 99% and 100% coverage! Our sun is one powerful star.

At totality (8:28 pm), the corona came into view along with a huge prominence (it looks pink/red) on the left side of the sun! Somehow, the “black hole” of the sun makes it appear so much bigger in person, and photos don’t capture that. I wish I could explain what it looks like adequately. It’s just something you have to see for yourself in person. It’s so hard to do it justice with photos. You can see the full corona! And the prominences!!!

I took a few photos and videos with my phone because it’s hard not to (even though they didn’t really turn out), though I wish I had spent a few seconds longer just staring at the corona in awe and taking in the scene with my own eyes. It goes by so quickly!

Totality lasted for 1 minute and 45 seconds where we were in León, which was the shortest eclipse we’ve seen so far, but it was still so worth flying halfway across the world to see it! I promise: once you see one total solar eclipse, you understand why people chase them. They are truly breathtaking and unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

Korri used the Camera+ app on his phone to take photos of the corona, and he also captured the diamond ring. They turned out pretty good for being phone photos—much better than the built-in iPhone camera app could do.

Total solar eclipse in Leon, Spain | Cotton Cashmere Cat Hair — Total solar eclipse from Leon, Spain

Partial Solar Eclipse after Totality

Immediately after totality ended at 8:30 pm, the sky lightened up again, and people started clearing out pretty quickly. We decided to stay where we were and wait until after the partial eclipse ended and the sun set. I have no idea what traffic was like in León or surrounding areas, but I didn’t hear any horror stories. I think lots of folks used public transportation.

We kept peeking at the sun throughout the second partial eclipse to watch the moon’s progress. It’s crazy how quickly the moon’s shadow moves! We also spent time looking through photos and videos. Korri captured some good ones with his phone; we didn’t lug his fancy camera on this trip because we didn’t want to be messing with the camera for such a short duration eclipse.

The partial solar eclipse in León ended at 9:22 pm, and even though technically the sun set at 9:37 pm, it was behind the mountains in the distance by the end of the partial eclipse. Everyone still on the hills cheered when the sun went down. Some distant clouds appeared on the horizon and partially obscured the sun during sunset, which made it even more beautiful.

After the Eclipse

We hiked back down the hill shortly after the sun set so that we weren’t hiking in the dark, but the Perseid meteor shower was also out that night and a number of people stayed behind to catch those. From our spot on the hill, we could hear music in the distance coming from the park. It ended up being a band covering hit songs during León Street Music.

We walked back to our hotel, which took about another 30 minutes from the park, and then we stopped at our hotel to drop off our things and regroup before heading out to eat. Fortunately, eating late is totally normal in Spain. We decided to go to an Italian restaurant, La Vespa 50, at 11:30 pm. It was completely packed!

I enjoyed a tinto de verano drink (sooo yummy!) and caprese salad (Korri had a few bites). Korri ordered a pizza, and I ate a couple of small slices. Everything was delicious! Afterward, we grabbed smoothies from Yolthy, which always had a long line at night until they closed at 1 am.

We spent the rest of the night looking through photos and videos of the eclipse that others captured around Spain and already planning our trip to see the total solar eclipse in 2027! 🤩