Seasons
The total eclipse of August 2027, and where to be under it
On 2 August 2027 the Moon's shadow crosses southern Spain, the Strait of Gibraltar and north Africa, with more than six minutes of totality at its longest. Where you stand decides how long you get, and how likely you are to see it.
By Walter Pellow2 November 20263 min read
A total eclipse of the Sun is not a gradual thing. For an hour or more beforehand, the Moon eats into the Sun's disc and nothing much seems to happen; the light dims a little, the shadows sharpen, the air cools. Then, in the last seconds, everything changes at once. The light collapses, a dark shadow races across the landscape, the last bead of sunlight flares at the edge of the Moon, and the Sun is gone. In its place hangs a black disc surrounded by the pale, feathery corona, with stars and planets out around it in a sky of deep blue twilight. Birds go quiet. People shout, or fall silent. And then, after a few minutes, it is over, and the ordinary day comes back.
Those who have seen one tend to want to see another, and on 2 August 2027 a long one comes within easy reach of Britain.
The path of the shadow
The Moon's full shadow, the path of totality, is a band up to about 258 kilometres wide. On 2 August 2027 it comes in from the Atlantic, crosses the southern tip of Spain, including parts of the provinces of Cádiz and Málaga, then Gibraltar, the Strait and northern Morocco, and travels east across north Africa: Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, then Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia. Outside the band, the eclipse is partial, which is interesting but not the same thing at all. Inside it, you get the full show.
How long the show lasts depends on where you stand. The longest totality, about six minutes and twenty-three seconds, is in Egypt, a little south-east of Luxor, and Luxor itself gets almost as much, around six minutes and twenty seconds. In Spain the times are shorter. At Tarifa, the southernmost point of mainland Spain, totality lasts more than four and a half minutes. At Cádiz it lasts under three. Tangier, across the Strait, is inside the path as well.
Spain, Morocco or Egypt
Each has its case. Southern Spain is the closest to home, an easy flight or a sailing away, and an August morning on the Costa de la Luz is usually clear. The catch is that everyone else knows it, and the towns in the path, Tarifa above all, will be very busy. Spain also saw a total eclipse in August 2026, further north, so many people will have had their appetite whetted.
Northern Morocco, across the Strait, gives a little longer than Cádiz and is also likely to be clear in August. Egypt gives the longest totality of all, and a summer sky over Upper Egypt is about as dependable as weather gets, but in August the heat at Luxor is fierce.
The holidays built around it
Several holidays in the catalogue are timed for the eclipse.
Fred. Olsen's eleven-night Spain Siesta & the Solar Eclipse sails from Southampton in July, with La Coruña, Vigo, Cádiz and Gibraltar in its list. A ship has one advantage over a hotel on eclipse day: it can move, within reason, to find a gap in the cloud.
Ambassador's nineteen-night Mediterranean Moments & Solar Eclipse sails from Dundee in July, with Leixões, Gibraltar, Almería, Alicante, Valencia, Ibiza, Ceuta, Cádiz, Vigo and Santiago de Compostela among its places.
On land, G Adventures' eight-night Morocco Eclipse 2027: Wonders of Earth & Sky departs in July, and its places are Bin El Ouidane, Chefchaouen, Volubilis, Meknes, Fes, the Atlas Mountains, the Ouzoud Waterfall and Marrakech.
Seeing it safely
Every part of the eclipse except totality itself must be watched through proper eclipse glasses or a solar filter, made to the international standard ISO 12312-2. Ordinary sunglasses are not enough, and neither is looking through a camera or binoculars without a filter on the front. Only when the Sun is completely covered is it safe to take the glasses off, and they must go back on the moment the first light reappears.
A few other things help. Find your spot the day before, with a clear view to the south-east. In Spain totality comes in the late morning, at around a quarter to eleven local time at Cádiz, with the Sun well up in the sky. Do not spend totality looking at a screen: take one photograph if you must, then put the camera down and look. And look around you as well as up. The horizon glows orange all round, like a sunset in every direction, and the people next to you will be worth watching too.
Eclipses do not wait for anyone, and the shadow will be gone in minutes. On the morning of 2 August 2027, it is worth being in the right place.
By Walter Pellow, the name Atlas & Passage’s editorial team writes under. Prices and dates in the trips below come from the operators and can change.
