The ‘fervor’ of the eclipse: natural spaces and roads closed, health alert and skyrocketing hotel prices

The great excitement generated by the total solar eclipse threatens to collapse roads, access to the best observation spots, and cause a disorderly invasion of natural spaces amid a general alert due to the risk of forest fires. There is deep interest, but also uncertainty, because no one knows for sure the final scale of the mobilization. In the middle of the tourist season and with accommodations already full, prices soar and opportunists and scams appear. Tourist behavior will also be key, in addition to internal mobility, with locals and enthusiasts moving at the last minute if bad weather appears.

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The privilege of being able to observe the total solar eclipse in the regions of Tarragona, Terres de l’Ebre, and Lleida, in a time span that will last from one to one and a half minutes, has turned southern Catalonia and Ponent into the object of desire for astronomy enthusiasts and has generated enormous excitement among much of the population. Faced with a foreseeable flood of visitors and massive movements, the Generalitat is preparing a large operation involving Civil Protection, Mossos d’Esquadra, Rural Agents, and local police to try to avoid road collapse, with great attention to the already highly strained AP-7, and the chaotic invasion of sites near large forested areas.

With rising temperatures next week and a very high fire risk, one of the prevention measures, confirmed the day before yesterday, is the closure of two key natural parks for the eclipse, Serra de Montsant and Els Ports.

Without the possibility of having any comparable reference in Europe – the last total solar eclipse was in the United States – one of the great difficulties for public managers is to predict the volume of people who will travel on August 11 and 12 to follow it at the best observation points. Another unknown, which will largely depend on the weather, is whether many last-minute internal movements will occur to avoid bad weather or even between autonomous communities. The good weather forecast on the Tarragona coast makes the Costa Daurada, always with tourist accommodations full in August, a place sensitive to crowds.

There is fear of collapse in the Department of the Interior, with the Catalan Traffic Service (SCT) closely monitoring mobility flows. The social response to an exceptional astronomical phenomenon, which has not been seen in Catalonia for more than a century, and the behavior of locals, occasional visitors drawn by the eclipse, and tourists during the August holidays will be key.

This weekend, Traffic has not detected an increase in mobility towards southern Catalonia due to the eclipse. One of the recommendations to avoid being trapped on the AP-7 on August 12 is to anticipate travel, preferably at least 24 hours before the astronomical event. Between 5 p.m. and midnight on August 12, truck passage on the AP-7 southbound, between Martorell and Ulldecona, at the border with Castellón, will be prohibited.

Motorized access to the natural parks of Els Ports and Serra de Montsant, affecting five regions (Montsià, Terra Alta, Baix Ebre, Baix Camp, and Priorat), will be prohibited from Tuesday the 11th (9 p.m.) until Thursday morning the 13th. The aim is to avoid massive occupation of natural spaces. The Generalitat’s goal, with the official designation of 18 municipalities to view the eclipse, is for rural areas and villages to stay out of the eclipse madness. The excitement is at its peak.

The Valencian Community has designated nine municipalities – Castelló de la Plana, Onda, Peñíscola, Benassal in the province of Castellón; Valencia, Macastre, Utiel, Puçol, Aras de los Olmos in the province of Valencia – as official viewing locations. In its capital, where the City Council has prepared a special operation on the beaches of Malva-rosa and Cabanyal at the time of the San Juan celebration, drones and water rescue teams will be deployed both on the coast and around L’Albufera, where there is special concern about Devesa del Saler, which will be closed to passage, as will the rest of the natural parks in the Community. In Valencia, many are expected to choose to look at the sky from this natural park, where boats that usually sail the lake already have no free spots for that afternoon. Therefore, and in anticipation of the influx, bus lines have been reinforced, and from 6 p.m., the road to El Saler will be closed to vehicular traffic. There is maximum alert due to the risk of forest fires, and authorities have emphasized raising awareness about the danger, avoiding camping in shelters or similar in an operation involving more than 2,400 agents.

Also, on Wednesday, a meeting of the Integrated Operational Coordination Center (Cecopi) is expected, and municipalities with massive visitor attendance must also convene their Cecopal. Viewing points vary, from the Alto Turia Astronomical Observatory, in the small town of Aras de los Olmos, which expects to multiply its population of 400 by more than 10, to the Castle of the 300 Towers in Onda, which will host nearly 1,000 attendees. In Castelló de la Plana, it will be experienced as a major event: they have been planning related activities on the beaches in front of the municipal planetarium for some time, where there will be children’s workshops and recreational activities, as well as two giant screens to broadcast the event supported by narration from various scientific communicators.

It will be a logistical challenge for the Balearic Islands, a community in full high season with resident and tourist pressure reaching summer peaks. On August 12, 2025, there were more than two million people on the islands, and authorities fear that this year the number will increase with tourists attracted by the phenomenon.

Access to the Serra de Tramuntana in Mallorca and other elevated points on the islands or to areas such as lighthouses and capes, with narrow and winding roads, will be closed, and the army will ensure that only residents, tourists with hotel reservations in the area, and authorized persons approach. The main concern is that thousands of vehicles try to access beaches, viewpoints, ports, or natural spaces simultaneously to find a place to see the eclipse.

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The interest aroused by this astronomical phenomenon in Mallorca has caused reservations in some strategic locations to be made up to a year in advance. Hotels located in some of the best spots to observe the phenomenon have already posted full signs, while others still have rooms available, albeit at astronomical prices.

One of the most significant examples is the Jumeirah Mallorca, in Sóller, a luxury hotel offering a specific package for the eclipse dates called Solar Eclipse. The offer includes a buffet breakfast, a gala dinner on Wednesday the 12th, round-trip transfer from Palma airport, and an astronomy workshop on August 10. The establishment also offers rooms with sea views facing the eclipse and the possibility of boarding a boat to see the phenomenon. During peak demand dates, some rooms cost 4,300 euros per night.

Another major focus of attention will be Playa de Palma, one of the island’s main tourist areas, with hotels full in the high season. Vehicle access will be restricted, and only tourists staying in hotels, workers, and residents, as well as essential services and other authorized vehicles, will be allowed in. Hotels in the area have also prepared activities to retain tourists and avoid travel.

For residents, the Balearic Government has selected a total of 26 official observation points across the four islands, although it warns that these are not the best places to see the eclipse but where it can be seen with more safety conditions.

The regional government has been working for a year on preparing the entire operation with a focus on the sea and forested areas. There is fear that a tide of boats will go out to sea to enjoy the phenomenon and that another tide will try to access high mountain areas amid an extreme fire risk alert.

On the eve, Wednesday’s eclipse has in Galicia the evocative effect of returning it, in terms of territorial logic, to the Roman era, when Lugo was the capital of the district that largely corresponds to the area occupied by the current autonomous community. Lugo, Ferrol, and A Coruña are the cities where the phenomenon will be total, lasting just under a minute and a half. But while over the latter two and the rest of the northern coast, both in Ortegal and A Mariña lucense, the threat hangs that the late afternoon clouds, quite common at those latitudes, will ruin or dull the observation, in Lugo it is not only assured but also has a monument, the Roman wall, presented for months as one of the most attractive places due to its more than seventeen centuries of age, giving it an almost telluric value, a connection with the astronomical event.

“The eclipse is a very good opportunity to showcase the attractions of our city, but it does not neutralize the concern about doing it safely,” summarizes Elena Candia, mayor of Lugo, a city where the observation points enabled by the city council have a capacity for 6,500 people, in a municipality of 100,000 inhabitants and at a time of unprecedented tourist pressure, with almost full occupancy and prices in those clouds that threaten so many plans on the northern coast, for example, to see the eclipse from a fishing boat at sea.

If the sky is finally covered on the coast, there is a risk of massive movements inland, towards higher altitude areas of Lugo province. And there are other potential problems, such as the one that has arisen around As Catedrais beach, in Ribadeo, which will remain closed due to its danger, but next to which, just a few meters away, the city council has organized a musical and scientific event that could be massive.

The great excitement generated by the total solar eclipse threatens to collapse roads, access to the best observation spots, and cause a disorderly invasion of natural spaces amid a general alert due to the risk of forest fires. There is deep interest but also uncertainty because no one knows for sure the final scale of the mobilization. In the middle of the tourist season and with accommodations already full, prices soar and opportunists and scams appear. Tourist behavior will also be key, in addition to internal mobility, with locals and enthusiasts moving at the last minute if bad weather appears.

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