Total solar eclipse · Wednesday 12 August 2026 · Mallorca, Spain

Mallorca Eclipse Trip

Totality reaches Mallorca minutes before sunset, with the eclipsed Sun barely 2.5° above the west-northwest horizon at azimuth ≈ 287°. At that height, a hill 5 km away — or an island offshore — hides the whole show. This simulator combines the computed Sun track, a terrain model of the island, and site logistics to rank where to stand, and where not to. Zoom into the satellite map and click any site marker — or any exact spot, down to a specific beach or clifftop — to test it.

20:31:05 CESTTotality begins (Palma)
1m 36sTotality duration (Palma)
2.6°Sun altitude at max eclipse
287° WNWSun azimuth at totality
20:49Sunset — partial still underway
≈ 65–75%Historical clear-sky odds

Island chart & sightline test

The gold ray is the line of sight to the Sun during totality (az 287.3°). Green = the ray clears all modeled terrain; red segment = where a ridge rises above the 2.6° Sun. Markers are pre-scored sites; zoom in and click anywhere else (land or sea) to evaluate an exact custom spot. Switch satellite/street basemaps and toggle the terrain-model footprints in the layers control.

Interactive map zoom in & click any exact spot · Mapbox satellite · terrain · streets

Basemap tiles could not load in this preview. Download the file and open it in your browser for the full satellite map — the sightline test still works on the outline shown.
Clear at totality Marginal (<1.5° spare) Blocked Terrain model (toggle in ⧉ layers) — sightline az 287°

Western sky from this site az 262–312° · alt −1–14°

20:31:53
—
19:2019:4020:0020:2020:31 · totality20:49 · sunset20:58

Site rankings

Weighted score: terrain clearance at az 287° (42%), sea-horizon quality (14%), access & crowd risk (14%), totality duration (10%), haze resilience — elevation above the marine haze layer (10%), escape mobility if clouds move in (10%). Click a row to load it above.

#SiteVerdictClearanceTotality ≈Elev.NotesScore
Eye safety: the partial phases (19:36 → 20:31 and 20:33 → sunset) require ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses at all times — a low, orange Sun is still retina-burning. Naked-eye viewing is safe only during the ~96 seconds of totality. Cameras, binoculars and telescopes need solar filters for the partial phases.

Backup playbook

The one factor that outranks geometry: a haze or cloud band sitting on the sea horizon at 2.5°. Decide in layers.

T−3 days · forecast fork

Watch AEMET + ECMWF for the Balearics. August evenings run ~65–75% clear, but the failure mode is low marine haze, not thick cloud.

  • Looks clear: commit to Plan A (west/SW coast).
  • Uncertain: keep a hire car and two sites in different weather zones (e.g., Cap Gros + Cap Blanc, 1h15 apart).
  • Looks bad island-wide: book the escape — ferry/flight to the mainland (Castelló–Peníscola coast: Sun ≈ 4°, totality ≈ 1m 32–39s) or Menorca's west coast near Ciutadella.

T−1 day · dress rehearsal

On 10–11 Aug at 20:31, stand on your exact spot. The Sun will sit within ~½° of its eclipse-day position. If it touches terrain, haze or masts — move now, not on eclipse day. This single check beats any model, including this one.

Eclipse day · final calls

  • Haze band on the horizon: gain elevation — Torre des Verger (~275 m), Cap Gros (~110 m), Randa (~540 m) look over the shallow haze layer.
  • Cloud over the Tramuntana coast: run south — Cap Blanc / Es Trenc are in a different local regime.
  • Arrive hours early: single-road sites (Formentor, Sa Foradada, Cap Blanc) will jam; Formentor may have summer access restrictions.

Wildcard · get on the water

A boat 2–10 km west of the island is the geometric ideal: perfect sea horizon at exactly 287°, freedom to steer around haze, zero crowds. Sóller-based eclipse cruises are already advertised; any western anchorage (Sant Elm, Port d'Andratx, Port de Sóller) works — just be clear of Sa Dragonera's shadow line.

Methodology, verification & honest limits
  • Sun track: NOAA solar-position algorithm computed live for every site/time, including atmospheric refraction. Cross-checked against published circumstances for Palma: max-eclipse altitude 2.6° (published: 2–2.5°), sunset 20:49 CEST (published: 20:49–20:50), azimuth 287.3° at totality — consistent with the independent sunset-azimuth check (289–290° at 0° altitude, declination +14.8°).
  • Contact times: anchored to published Palma values (C1 ≈ 19:36, C2 20:31:05, max 20:31:53, C3 20:32:41, per timeanddate / Absolute Eclipse / TheSkyLive). Per-site shifts are estimated from shadow motion (WNW→ESE, several km/s) and are good to roughly ±1 minute. For second-accurate contact times at your exact spot, use Xavier Jubier's interactive Google-map of this eclipse.
  • Totality duration: quadratic falloff from a centerline just south of Palma, calibrated to published values (Palma ≈ 96 s, Port de Sóller ≈ 94 s). Treat site durations as ±5 s estimates. The whole island — plus Menorca and Ibiza — is inside the path.
  • Terrain: a ~45-element simplified ridge/peak model of Mallorca (Tramuntana crest, Na Burguesa, central hills, Serres de Llevant, Sa Dragonera), with Earth curvature and standard refraction (k = 0.13). Expect ±0.3–0.5° accuracy on obstruction angles and no modeling of buildings, trees or minor spurs. Anything scored "marginal" must be verified on-site (see the T−1 rehearsal) or with a detailed horizon tool (PeakFinder, HeyWhatsThat).
  • Sanity checks passed: the model independently reproduces expert site advice it was not tuned to — Port de Sóller cliffs, Formentor and s'Arenal come out clear (all recommended by Sky & Telescope, Absolute Eclipse and Star Walk respectively), while Sant Elm is blocked by Sa Dragonera (353 m at ~2.5 km ⇒ ~7° obstruction) and central Palma's shoreline is shadowed by the Na Burguesa/Gènova ridge (~350–445 m at ~5 km ⇒ ~3.5–4°), which sits almost exactly on azimuth 287°. Note this contradicts some casual local guidance suggesting Bellver Castle or the central promenade — those work for the high partial phases, not for totality itself.
  • Weather figures: historical August cloud statistics (timeanddate: cloudy ~37% of Aug 12ths since 2000; Absolute Eclipse: ~3-in-4 clear from good west-coast spots). Climate ≠ forecast — decide on the real forecast in the final days.