Municipalities in Bizkaia within the path of totality

Observation guide

Bilbao made it into the path of totality, but only just. The shadow barely clipped the western end of Bizkaia, and the provincial maximum was 1m 06s, measured at Lanestosa on the far western edge. Fifty-six Bizkaian municipalities lay inside totality, and the duration fell away quickly eastwards until only a few tens of seconds remained. The edge of the band ran close by, so choosing a spot there was no refinement; it decided whether the eclipse was total or partial.

Lanestosa topped the site ranking with 59.6 points and Urduña/Orduña followed on 59, ahead of Karrantza Harana/Valle de Carranza, Balmaseda and Artzentales. Those are modest scores next to inland Spain, and the second variable explained why: the historical clear-sky average during the eclipse window runs between 16 and 20 percent across the province, averaging 18.7 percent. Put plainly, the thirty-year record leaves roughly one evening in five with clear sky at this time of year.

With the Sun eight or nine degrees up and a landscape of deep, narrow valleys, terrain counted as much as cloud in Bizkaia. A position with the west-northwest fully open was essential, and a valley floor rarely provides one, so ridgelines and bare high ground served better than town centres. Those percentages are statistics covering 1996 to 2025, not an account of the weather that day. Spain's next totality, on 2 August 2027, stays in Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla; Bizkaia is not in it.