Spain prepares for rare solar eclipse against backdrop of heat and wildfires

MADRID (AP) — Spaniards were rushing to buy specialized glasses to view a rare total solar eclipse Wednesday, as authorities warned people flocking to rural areas to avoid anything that could spark new wildfires.

Across a swath of northern and central Spain, millions of people will have some of mainland Europe's best views of the celestial spectacle. It will begin around sunset, when the sun, moon and Earth align, briefly bringing parts of the Iberian Peninsula — plus slivers of Greenland and Iceland — into darkness.

The event could draw at least an additional half a million visitors, Spanish authorities say. Against the backdrop of scorching summer temperatures and wildfires , officials have rolled out a large public safety campaign ahead of the much-anticipated eclipse, with totality — when the moon completely covers the sun's light — expected to last less than 2 1/2 minutes.

Spain’s Interior Ministry said 350 official viewing sites have been set up across the country’s sparsely populated interior, an area often referred to as “Empty Spain.” Authorities have limited or restricted access to another 123 sites because of environmental conditions or obstacles that could hinder an evacuation in the event of a wildfire.

Only weeks ago, the most destructive wildfire in Spanish history devoured 500 square kilometers (193 square miles) and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in central Spain. Several smaller wildfires remain active elsewhere in the country.

More than 33,500 law enforcement officers will be deployed to observation areas and access points, the ministry said.

“High temperatures, the accumulated dryness of vegetation, and the intense pressure on natural areas due to projected travel necessitate extreme preventive measures,” Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said.

Much of Spain will be on alert Wednesday as temperatures climb above 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) and vegetation remains bone-dry. The national weather agency, AEMET, forecast such temperatures across northwest to southeastern Spain, including many areas where the total eclipse will be observed.

Authorities' top priority is to prevent even a single spark that could lead to a fire, as happened in Ávila , west of Madrid, in late July. They are urging visitors not to light fires, litter or park in areas with dry vegetation.

Special eclipse glasses are essential for safe viewing, even if only a sliver of the sun remains visible.

“To look at the sun, you must always use proper protection, and the most suitable protection is eclipse glasses," said Telmo Fernández Castro, director of the Madrid Planetarium. The glasses are made with special filters that block solar radiation that can damage the eyes.

For months, supermarkets, department stores, museums and planetariums across Spain have sold or distributed eclipse glasses, with many pharmacies running out of stock ahead of Wednesday.

The eclipse will reach its maximum duration off Iceland’s west coast. By the time it reaches a small patch of Portugal and then Spain, totality will have dwindled to a minute or so. The spectacle will then end over the Mediterranean.

On Tuesday evening, those scrambling to find a pair queued outside a photo shop in downtown Madrid, where a sign taped to the entrance read, “We carry eclipse glasses.”

One woman emerged triumphantly and reassured those waiting: “He has boxes and boxes of them!”

Rooms in Reykjavík, Iceland's capital, were averaging more than $1,000 for Wednesday night as Icelanders prepared for their first total solar eclipse since 1954 and the first visible from the capital since June 1433. Prices were roughly double 2025 rates, according to data group Lighthouse Intelligence.

Authorities in the country of fewer than 400,000 people expect up to 20,000 additional overseas visitors for the eclipse, which comes during an already busy peak tourist period.

In Spain, hotel demand along the eclipse’s path of totality — including in the northern Spanish cities of A Coruña, Bilbao and Santiago de Compostela — has soared.

The 70-room Hotel Keflavík in Iceland's Reykjanesbaer municipality was fully booked with guests hoping to see around one minute and 45 seconds of totality — weather permitting.

“Eclipse time, of course, has been very demanding, and many people came to us early, like last year,” says hotel owner and manager Steinþór Jónsson.

Jónsson said he had seen nothing like it since 1986, the year the hotel opened and U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev held their summit in Reykjavík .

“When I opened the hotel, we had Reagan and Gorbachev meeting. It was very hectic here," he said with a smile. “Besides Reagan and Gorbachev, the eclipse is the biggest.”

Associated Press journalist James Brooks in Snæfellsnes, Iceland, contributed.