"Now it's all hotels and agriturismos looking for astronomers against the clock"

CiutadellaMenorca will be the first place where the total solar eclipse of August 12th can be seen, starting at 8:30 PM. If nothing new happens, for 66 seconds, the Moon will cover the Sun and the sky will darken. None of us has ever seen it.

In addition to being a Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site, Menorca has the double certification of being a Starlight Destination and Reserve, the international seal that recognizes the quality of the night sky, its low light pollution, and its commitment to environmental protection. In fact, it is the only island in the Mediterranean distinguished by the Starlight Foundation.

For this reason, monitors recognized as Starlight ambassadors for training tourist guides are disappointed by the Administration's "lost opportunity" to give more relevance to the eclipse. And this is despite the fact that the Council launched an activities program in May with educational talks and an itinerant planetarium that toured all the towns.

The former counselor Javier Ares, now at the head of the company Polaris Menorca, misses that institutions "have not valued in sufficient time the historical importance of an event that will not happen again for another 373 years. It deserved something special. In fact - he points out - the 12th should be a holiday. A solar eclipse, if you're lucky, happens only once in a lifetime, marks an entire generation, and, above all, the tourism sector should be up to par."

Call for caution

The Island Council has called for prudence, responsibility, and safety, urging people to avoid travel, exercise extreme caution to prevent fires, and preferably go to the official observation areas: Cala en Bosc, Cala Blanca, Los Delfines, Son Blanc, Platges de Fornells, Son Bou, Sant Tomàs, Talis, and the Maó promenade. It also reminds that road access to El Toro, the Tramuntana road, and the Cavalleria and Punta Nati lighthouses will be restricted, and that it is dangerous to watch the phenomenon from the cliffs of Cala Morell.

However, Ares regrets that "everything the Administration is doing now is solely to guarantee safety and not so that we can better enjoy the phenomenon. It has not understood that we are a Starlight Destination and Reserve. And, in part, I understand it. It falls right in the middle of the season, and at this time, we don't need any extra reason to attract tourism." However, the head of Polaris believes that "Menorca should have made more of an effort to differentiate itself from other destinations. If you are Starlight and have made a commitment to astronomy, you cannot miss out on this opportunity. If another area of Spain had had the luck we will have to see the phenomenon so well, they would have thrown themselves into it more."

Two years ago, says Javier Ares, he began mobilizing to try to raise awareness within the Administration, "but everyone I spoke to thought it was too soon." So, as an eclipse educator, he started giving talks in libraries and cultural centers to explain everything related to the phenomenon to the resident population. He then advised the professional sector, from the nautical (Asmen) to the hotel industry (the employers' association Ashome). At first, he didn't get much of a response, but he says: "The third time I knocked on the door, they reacted." He also believes that "there was a lack of foresight" and that many establishments have been slow to wake up. "I did a lot of educating, knowing that when everything exploded, there would be no stopping it. Now there are hotels and agriturisms scrambling to find astronomers at the last minute," he remarks.

He himself, before the eclipse, will have gone the two previous days to Cala en Bosc and the Melià hotel in Cala Galdana to observe the Sun with the tourists staying there. It is something similar to what he has offered, as Polaris, in his activities also in Mallorca and the Pitiuses, and which culminates on the 12th in a space he prefers not to reveal in Menorca. “We are the only company with solar telescopes and we will take advantage of it. Whoever comes will have their material, their explanations, their concert…”, he affirms. So far, 12 people have signed up and he has availability for a maximum of 25 places.

“Eclipses are not to be seen, they are to be lived”, he says. “It is a sensory experience of a very high level for which it is advisable to be prepared”. And not only for those who can afford not to work that night. “In talks at hotels I have warned them that they must stock up more than usual and alter kitchen schedules. If tourists leave at seven to see the eclipse and don’t return until ten, either you prepare picnics for them or dinner could be a problem”, he warns.

Active tourism companies also complain that the Administration has woken up late and has not allowed them to have all the information in time to plan guided excursions or observations with the required safety. “It is something unknown and the information I obtained did not give me enough guarantees. If I set up a horse riding route in a visible area, I didn’t know how the animals might react. So I didn’t dare to create any specific product”, says Catalina Florit, president of the Menorca Activa association. She will spend the evening with her family at Son Àngel. “We will have a good snack before and a good dinner after, and be very happy”.

It is the option that other businesses have also chosen. The Fel Caules butcher shop, the busiest in Ciutadella’s Market Square, will also close that evening. “There will be mobility restrictions and it will be better to take advantage of it, because we will never see this again”, she comments.

The restaurant sector will benefit from it, especially establishments that, like Isabella in Platges de Fornells and the Artrutx Sea Club at the Cala en Bosc lighthouse, already promote observation of sunsets from the front line. The sunset bars sold out all their reservations a month ago. “In Menorca we are already quite used to it, so it will come in very handy”, confirms the president of the restaurateurs, Antoni Pons.

Les Salines de la Concepció, in Fornells, also commemorates the eclipse with an artisanal and limited harvest of its Flor de Sal. During the 66 seconds of darkness, it plans to collect at least 250. With them, it will make a hand-numbered edition of 150 grams each. This is, according to those in charge, a unique gastronomic experience that they want to share with all visitors who come.

The town councils also facilitate the orderly gathering of people in emblematic places to experience the phenomenon together. Es Mercadal, for example, offers buses at 8 euros –glasses included– to go up to El Toro; Ciutadella will install a giant screen in Plaça del Born and Alaior calls for experiencing the eclipse on Son Bou beach. It offers a free shuttle bus to go and return and a big festival is scheduled with the performance of the group The Maniacs.

This Wednesday's will be only the first of the 'triplet' of eclipses that await us in the next year and a half. In addition to this year's, there is the partial one on August 2, 2027, which will be seen mainly in Andalusia, and the annular one on January 26, 2028, which will be visible in areas of southern Catalonia. "An eclipse is one of the most impactful phenomena that can be seen from Earth," says Ares. "We've won the lottery."