Eclipse day in Ceuta, hour by hour
The eclipse in Ceuta begins at 09:40 and ends at 12:01, but eclipse day starts well before that and finishes well after. Here is the full plan, with what tends to go wrong at each stage.
Published 17 August 2026
Monday 2 August 2027 is a Monday, which in practice means a long weekend of people arriving. Totality falls mid-morning, so there is no need for a heroic early start: what you need is margin, which is a different thing.
The night before
- Pack and fill the tank if you plan to move. If the forecast turns overnight, you want to be able to leave without thinking.
- Charge everything: phone, power bank, camera, spare batteries.
- Check your eclipse glasses against a bright bulb: if you can see anything other than the filament, they are damaged and unusable.
- Read AEMET, the Spanish met office, rather than a generic app. Microclimates around the Strait break global models.
- Agree a meeting point with your group. Mobile coverage will saturate with thousands of people in one place.
08:00 – 09:00 · Eat, then leave
Eat before you go. Anything with a counter will have a queue at the viewing spot, and spending three hours in August sun on an empty stomach is a bad idea. Leave with at least two litres of water per person, a hat, sunscreen and some food.
09:00 – 09:40 · Set up
Get to your chosen spot an hour before the partial phase starts. It is not about claiming the best viewpoint: it is about not still be parking when the eclipse has already begun. Find shade, or bring it. Locate the nearest toilet. And orient yourself: the Sun will be east-southeast, and the shadow will come from the west.
09:40 · C1, the eclipse begins
Filter on. For the first half hour nothing is visible to the naked eye, which makes it the perfect moment to set up a camera if you are shooting, to try projecting with a colander if there are children, and to explain to everyone what will happen at C2 and C3.
10:45 · C2, filter off
A minute before, look west: the shadow arrives over the sea. Once the disc is fully covered, take the filter off. You have 4 minutes and 48 seconds: do not spend all of them behind a screen. Look at the corona with your own eyes, look at the 360° horizon, look at the people around you.
10:50 · C3: the critical moment
12:01 · C4 and after
The eclipse ends, and the other half of the day begins. Do not leave immediately. Thousands of people will try to get out of the same place at once and, if you are counting on a ferry, the queue at the port will be the least pleasant memory of the trip. Eat unhurriedly, find shade and leave mid-afternoon. If you have a boat booked, plan on reaching the port far earlier than usual.
The bag, as a list
- Certified eclipse glasses, one per person, plus a spare
- Two litres of water per person, and something salty (fruit, nuts)
- Hat, sunscreen and something to make shade with
- A charged power bank
- A colander or a shoebox if there are children
- Cash: with the network saturated, card payments fail
- A folding chair or a mat, which you will thank yourself for by hour three
Frequently asked questions
What time is the eclipse in Ceuta?
The partial eclipse starts at 09:40 and ends at 12:01. Totality runs from 10:45 to 10:50, with maximum at 10:47. All times are local to Ceuta, which keeps the same clock as mainland Spain.
What time should I arrive at my viewing spot?
At least an hour before the partial phase begins. It is not about claiming a place, it is about not hunting for parking once the eclipse has started.
How long does the whole eclipse last?
A little over two and a half hours from first contact to last, of which 4 minutes and 48 seconds are totality.
The illustrations are our own, and any figures shown in them come from the same Besselian computation as the tables elsewhere on the site. Sources and method