Tarifa & Cadiz Solar Eclipse 2027

Europe’s share of this eclipse begins at the bottom of Spain. After sweeping in across the open Atlantic, the Moon’s umbra makes its European landfall on the coast of Andalusia, and Tarifa — the southernmost point of the continental mainland — gets 4 minutes 39 seconds of totality from 10:45:05 local time (CEST, UTC+2) on Monday 2 August 2027.

Four and a half minutes is a serious total eclipse by any standard. It is longer than anything North America saw in 2024, and two and a half times what northern Spain will get from the eclipse of August 2026. Southern Spain is a genuinely good place to stand on this date.

There is one significant caveat, and it is the opposite of the Egyptian problem. Here the Sun is only 38° above the horizon and sitting almost due east, at an azimuth of 95°. In Luxor the Sun is 82° up and nothing on the ground can block it. In Tarifa, a hill, a hotel, a headland or a bank of low cloud over the Strait absolutely can. Choosing your spot matters here in a way it does not in Egypt.

The eclipse from Tarifa & Cadiz, minute by minute

All times are UTC+2 on Monday 2 August 2027.

09:40 First contact The Moon takes its first bite out of the Sun’s edge. Nothing is visible without eclipse glasses — put them on now.
10:45:05 Totality begins — second contact The last sliver breaks into Baily’s beads, then the diamond ring. When the ring goes out, glasses off.
10:47:24 Mid-eclipse Deepest darkness. The corona surrounds a black Sun 38° above the horizon; look for planets and the horizon glow.
10:49:44 Totality ends — third contact A second diamond ring flares on the opposite limb. Glasses back on the instant it appears.
12:00 Fourth contact The Moon leaves the Sun’s disc and the eclipse is over.

Computed from NASA/GSFC Besselian elements for 36.0128°N, -5.6067°E.
Eclipse type	Total
Duration of totality	4m 39s
Maximum obscuration	100%
Eclipse magnitude	1.025
Sun’s altitude at maximum	38°
Sun’s azimuth at maximum	95°
Mid-eclipse (UTC)	08:47:24

Tarifa & Cadiz on the eclipse map

The gold band is the path of totality. Click anywhere to test a spot of your own — a few kilometres genuinely matters.

Open the full-screen map

Where Europe meets the shadow

Tarifa sits at 36°N on a spit of land pointing into the Strait of Gibraltar, with the Atlantic on one side and the Mediterranean on the other. From the causeway to the Isla de las Palomas you are standing on the southernmost point of continental Europe, and Africa is 14 km away across the water — close enough on a clear day to pick out individual buildings on the Moroccan shore.

That geography produces a detail worth savouring. The umbra crosses the Strait so fast that Tarifa and Tangier are eclipsed at essentially the same instant. Tarifa’s mid-eclipse is at 10:47:24 CEST; Tangier’s is at 09:47:03 local Moroccan time (UTC+1), one hour earlier by the clock and twenty-one seconds earlier in reality. Two continents, two countries, two time zones, one shadow, one moment.

What the town is otherwise known for

Wind. Tarifa is the kitesurfing and windsurfing capital of Europe, because the Strait funnels air between two seas almost continuously. The levante blows from the east, the poniente from the west, and both matter to your eclipse — see below.
The Castillo de Guzmán, a tenth-century fortress above the harbour, and a compact walled old town of white lanes.
Whales. The Strait is one of the best places in Europe for orca, pilot whales and fin whales, which funnel through the same gap the wind does.
Baelo Claudia, a remarkably complete Roman town on the beach at Bolonia a few kilometres west, with a forum, theatre and the tanks where they made garum.

Cádiz and the wider coast

The figures on this page are computed for Tarifa itself. Cádiz, about 84 km up the Atlantic coast to the north-west, is also inside the path with its own slightly different circumstances, and it is a magnificent place to be: a Phoenician foundation of around 1100 BC, arguably the oldest continuously inhabited city in western Europe, built on a near-island of sea walls, watchtowers and a golden cathedral dome. The whole southern strip — Cadiz province, the Costa de la Luz, Gibraltar, the Malaga coast — falls within the path, so there is a lot of Spain to choose from.

The low Sun changes everything about site selection

Thirty-eight degrees is not low in absolute terms — it is comfortably up in the sky, and much better than the 2–12° that northern Spain will contend with in 2026. But it is low enough that the ground around you becomes part of the problem.

Look east, and check what is in the way

At totality the Sun is at azimuth 95°: a shade south of due east. From the Tarifa area that line of sight runs out over the Strait and along the Mediterranean coast towards Gibraltar. A site with an open eastern aspect — a beach facing east, a sea wall, a low headland, high ground with nothing in front of it — is worth real effort to secure. A campsite with a pine ridge to the east of it is not, however pleasant it is at breakfast.

The cloud question, honestly

Egypt’s pages talk about a 90–95% chance of clear sky. The Strait of Gibraltar is not that, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. Early August in Andalusia is overwhelmingly dry and sunny, and the interior is close to guaranteed — but the Strait itself has a specific and well-known problem:

Under a levante (easterly) the humid Mediterranean air is forced through the gap and over the coastal hills, and low cloud, banner cloud over the Rock of Gibraltar and sea fog can form and persist along the Strait — sometimes with brilliant sunshine only a few kilometres inland.
Under a poniente (westerly) the Strait is usually clear and bright.
Mid-morning is when any overnight coastal cloud is most likely still hanging about. Totality here is at 10:45, not at midday.

The practical answer is mobility. Have a car, have two or three candidate sites at different distances from the coast and at different heights, and be willing to drive inland or along the coast on the morning itself. The path over Spain is hundreds of kilometres long; a cloud bank over the Strait is not.

Spain’s remarkable run of eclipses

Southern Europe is having an extraordinary few years. A total eclipse crosses northern Spain on 12 August 2026, this one crosses the south on 2 August 2027, and an annular eclipse follows on 26 January 2028. Of the two totals, 2027 is by far the better proposition from a viewing point of view: 4m 39s with the Sun 38° up, against 1m 48s at best in 2026 with the Sun almost on the horizon.

The minute-by-minute experience at 38 degrees

A total eclipse with the Sun relatively low in the sky is a different spectacle from one directly overhead, and in some ways a better one.

The partial phases begin at 09:40 and run for over an hour. Watch the ground: the sharpening shadows and the crescent pinholes under any tree are more obvious with a low Sun than a high one. From about 10:35 the light collapses quickly.

Then comes the thing you can only get at low solar altitude: you may see the shadow arrive. The umbra sweeps in from the west across the Atlantic at over two thousand kilometres an hour, and with the Sun in the east you are looking away from it — so the western sky behind you goes black and visibly rushes towards you. Watchers on high ground west of Tarifa, with the ocean in front of them, are in the best position anywhere in Europe to see that happen.

At 10:45:05 the diamond ring goes out and the corona appears, 38° up over the Mediterranean. Because the Sun is low, the corona will sit in a sky that darkens unevenly, with a particularly deep band low in the west where the shadow is thickest. Venus should be easy to find. The Rock of Gibraltar, if you can see it, will be a silhouette against a false sunset. Then at 10:49:44, four minutes and thirty-nine seconds later, the second diamond ring flares on the opposite limb and the glasses go straight back on. The last of the partial phase ends at 12:00, in time for lunch.

Filters on, except during totality

Between 09:40 and 10:45:05, and again between 10:49:44 and 12:00, you need eye protection certified to ISO 12312-2. During the 4m 39s of totality itself — and only then — it is safe and necessary to look with the naked eye. Details on the eye safety page.

Practicalities: getting there and staying there

Andalusia in August is peak domestic and international holiday season before anyone adds an eclipse to it. Treat accommodation as the scarce resource.

Airports. The nearest large ones are Gibraltar, Jerez, Malaga and Seville, with Malaga and Seville carrying the bulk of international traffic. All are within a straightforward drive of the path, since the path covers the whole southern coast.
Roads. The N-340 runs along the coast from Algeciras through Tarifa towards Cadiz, and the A-7 / AP-7 serve the Malaga side. Expect heavy traffic on the morning of the 2nd, and note that the coast road through the Strait is scenic, winding and not fast.
Ferries. Tarifa and Algeciras both run services to Tangier, and Algeciras to Ceuta. Tarifa–Tangier Ville is the quick crossing. Crossing on eclipse morning to watch from Morocco is a romantic idea and a poor plan; if you want Tangier, go the day before.
Accommodation. Tarifa is a small town with a large seasonal population, and August is already its busiest month. Book far ahead, or base yourself further along the coast — the path is wide and most of the province is inside it.
Weather kit. Wind, not heat, is the local hazard. Anything on a tripod near the Strait in a levante needs weighting down, and sand is blown about the beaches at speed.

How Tarifa compares with the rest of the track

Tarifa gets 4m 39s at 38°. As the shadow runs east and the day advances, both numbers improve: Sfax in Tunisia gets 5m 40s at 56°, Benghazi in Libya 6m 09s at 68°, and Luxor in Egypt 6m 20s at 82°. Spain is the easiest place on the whole track for a European traveller to reach, and Egypt is where the eclipse is at its best. Our guide to the full path compares every stage.

Tarifa & Cadiz eclipse questions

How long does totality last in Tarifa?

4 minutes 39 seconds, from 10:45:05 to 10:49:44 local time (CEST, UTC+2) on Monday 2 August 2027. The partial phases run from 09:40 to 12:00.

Is Tarifa where the eclipse first reaches land?

The umbra spends its first stretch over the open Atlantic, and southern Spain is where it first crosses a populated coastline — Tarifa, at the southernmost tip of continental Europe, is right at that landfall. The shadow then crosses the Strait to Morocco essentially instantaneously.

How high will the Sun be in Tarifa during totality?

About 38° above the horizon, at an azimuth of 95° — a little south of due east. That is high enough to be comfortable but low enough that you must choose a spot with a clear eastern horizon, unlike in Egypt where the Sun is nearly overhead.

What are the chances of clear sky over the Strait of Gibraltar?

Generally good — early August in Andalusia is very dry — but the Strait itself is prone to low cloud and sea fog under easterly levante conditions, and totality here is mid-morning when any such cloud is most persistent. Be mobile, and be prepared to move inland or along the coast on the morning.

Is Cádiz inside the path of totality?

Yes. The path covers the southern strip of Spain, including Cadiz province, the Costa de la Luz, Gibraltar and the Malaga coast. Circumstances vary along it, so check your exact spot on the interactive map; the times on this page are computed for Tarifa.

Is Spain or Egypt the better choice for this eclipse?

Egypt, on every technical measure: 6m 20s against 4m 39s, an 82° Sun against 38°, and a far more reliable sky. Spain wins on cost, ease and familiarity for European travellers. If you can get to Upper Egypt, go there.

Compare with nearby options

Total — 4m 51s Beyond Egypt

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