Millions crowd cities to see Spain's first total solar eclipse in over a century

NEW: Spain witnesses its first total solar eclipse in more than a century, drawing millions across the country as the Moon passed directly in front of the Sun.

Spain just went dark in the middle of the day, and millions turned up to watch.

The Moon slid directly in front of the Sun, giving Spain its first total solar eclipse in more than a century. Over a hundred years of waiting, done in a few minutes of shadow. Crowds packed cities across the country, and look at this, whole streets standing still, heads back, staring at the sky through those little cardboard glasses.

Cities like Madrid turned into open air observatories. Traffic stopped, phones went up, and for a moment an entire country agreed on where to look. That does not happen often.

Here is the part I love. Nobody alive in Spain had ever seen this at home before. Every single person watching was seeing it for the first time, whether they were eight or ninety eight. The sky put on one show and sold out a whole country.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.

Source Read the original reporting at npr.org