Portugal will witness a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event on August 12, 2026: the largest total solar eclipse visible in the country in 114 years.
The eclipse will bring between 92% and 100% solar coverage across the country, specialists have explained. However, the only place where it will be seen in full – with total darkness – is in the area of the Montesinho Natural Park, in the northeast of Portugal.
At around 7.30pm, during the peak of the eclipse, night will briefly fall over the Bragança region. Totality – when the Moon completely blocks the Sun – will last for 26 seconds, although the overall eclipse will unfold over several minutes, SIC reports.
In the rest of mainland Portugal and in the autonomous regions, the eclipse will be partial, but still with very high levels of solar coverage.
The last total solar eclipse visible in Portugal took place in 1912. After 2026, the next one is not expected until 2144.
According to the US space agency NASA, the eclipse will only be visible along a narrow path crossing Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia and Portugal – placing the country among a small group of locations worldwide where the phenomenon can be observed.
