The August 12, 2026 total solar eclipse in Balmaseda (Bizkaia)

The figure that defines Balmaseda is small and unflattering: 2.3 degrees of horizon clearance. It is the tightest among the five municipalities heading the Biscayan index, and it sits right on the 2-degree threshold where the model stops distinguishing and calls the margin sufficient. With the Sun 8 degrees up at maximum, the western relief ate almost six of those eight. In practice, a valley floor where a badly placed hillside or a single building was enough to lose the entire minute.

In seconds it did well: 57, the fourth best of the 56 Biscayan municipalities inside the band, with totality between 20:27:14 and 20:28:11. On climate, the usual story for this corner of the northern coast: 18.6 in every hundred 12 Augusts with open sky between 1996 and 2025, and rain recorded on 57.2% of them. Unlike its neighbours to the west, here the Sun set before the eclipse was over, at 21:20:02, with the disc still partly covered.