Present

Tens of thousands of people have followed the phenomenon from observation points organized throughout the territory. The Generalitat highlights the institutional coordination, citizen participation and scientific legacy of the "Catalonia looks to the sky" initiative.

Catalonia successfully experienced a historic day yesterday with the total solar eclipse, the first that could be observed from Catalan territory in more than 120 years. Thousands of people followed the phenomenon from observation points organized throughout the country, on a day marked by collective emotion, scientific dissemination and coordination between the Generalitat, the city councils, the scientific community and the different public services.
The Generalitat gives a very positive assessment of the device deployed, which allowed the eclipse to be experienced normally and without notable incidents. Throughout the day, coordination was maintained between the security, emergency, mobility, health, fire prevention and meteorology services, the result of more than a year of preparation and the cross-cutting work of most of the Government departments.

The eclipse began shortly after 7:30 p.m. and reached totality around 8:30 p.m. in the southern regions of Catalonia. For approximately one minute and thirty seconds, in the center of the totality strip, the Moon completely covered the solar disk, the sky darkened and some of the most unique effects of a totality could be observed, such as the solar corona and sudden changes in light and temperature.

The weather conditions allowed the phenomenon to be observed clearly from a large part of the territory. The live broadcast offered by the Generalitat through the YouTube channel of the Department of Research and Universities allowed people from Catalonia and around the world to follow the different phases of the eclipse from the Ebro Observatory.

The Ebro Observatory is once again the protagonist 121 years later
The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the Minister of Research and Universities, Núria Montserrat, followed the eclipse from the Ebro Observatory, in Roquetes, accompanied by institutional representatives, research staff, publicists and citizens.

The choice of this location reflects its scientific, territorial and historical value. The Observatory began its activity in 1904 to study the relationships between the Sun and the Earth and was publicly presented to the scientific community on August 30, 1905, coinciding with the last total solar eclipse that could be observed from Catalonia. One hundred and twenty-one years later, the center was once again located at the heart of totality and became a meeting point between science and society.

Minister Montserrat noted that “the success of the day is the result of many months of shared work between the Generalitat, the municipalities, the observatories, the research centers and the professionals of the different public services”. “We have not only contemplated an extraordinary phenomenon: we have conducted research, we have brought knowledge closer to all citizens and we have certainly awakened new scientific vocations”, she added.

A day with great figures in science and space
Before the observation, the Ebro Observatory hosted a scientific and informative day with figures of international reference, such as the Nobel Prize in Physics Didier Queloz; NASA astronaut and doctor Ellen Baker; European Space Agency astronaut and president of Hispasat, Pedro Duque; the deputy director of the Vatican Observatory, Pavel Gabor, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center researcher Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla.

Also participating were specialists from the country, such as the director of the Montsec Astronomical Park, Salvador J. Ribas; the physicist and former director of the Ebro Observatory Juan José Curto, and the astrophysicist of the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) Ignasi Ribas.

The conferences addressed the legacy of the great observatories, human life beyond Earth, the challenges of space exploration, the search for other worlds and space meteorology. The day culminated with an explanation of the phases of the eclipse and the observation of the phenomenon.

People who were unable to travel to the observation points were able to follow the scientific day and all the phases of the eclipse through the live broadcast from the Ebro Observatory. The signal was broadcast simultaneously on the YouTube channels of the Department of Research and Universities, the Ebro Observatory and the Montsec Astronomical Park.

Citizen science, inclusion and education
The eclipse has also left an important scientific and social legacy. More than 3,000 people signed up for the SOLARIS citizen science project, promoted by the Department of Research and Universities in collaboration with the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute and the Institute for Space Studies of Catalonia. Using an app and smart watches, the project will study the physiological and emotional responses of the human body before, during and after the eclipse.

The data collected will allow for the analysis of possible variations in heart rate, breathing