The eclipse excites at the top of Menorca

CiutadellaSome 400 privileged individuals were able to watch the eclipse from the top of El Toro, Menorca's highest peak, where attendees responded with applause to the spectacular moment when the day suddenly darkened, as the moon covered the sun which was already beginning to set.

The island's highest mountain, where the Bishopric wants to convert the old convent of contemplative nuns into a guesthouse, would have been one of the points that, at 358 meters high, would have been most filled to watch the eclipse. But its inclusion in the list of restricted sites meant that only a few hundred people enjoyed it without the pressure of other natural spaces.

At the start of the path, at five in the afternoon, the Mercadal Police had already placed a barrier preventing passage. The other restricted points on the island had been closed much earlier. At eight in the morning, the Council had already begun to prevent traffic towards the Punta Nati lighthouse, and at two in the afternoon, the same was done for Cavalleria. Meanwhile, the National Police monitored the surroundings of Pont d'en Gil and Cala Morell, considered two areas of special danger for observing the phenomenon.

Two Civil Guard and Local Police vehicles, a hundred brave individuals on foot, and 275 residents who rushed to buy in time the only bus tickets that the Mercadal Town Hall put on sale last week to facilitate the controlled transport of some of the population, ascended to El Toro.

When the first of the five shuttle buses arrived at the summit, around a quarter past six, there were already some groups with their Menorcan chairs set up in the front row of the viewpoint. All facing west, towards Ciutadella, which could be seen at the bottom of the horizon.

"The tickets sold out in two hours," commented Isabel Marquès to her friend Paquita, worried that the few bus seats would not be reserved for the town's residents. "There were some who weren't from here," she continued, complaining.

Beside her, Fuensanta, a resident of Carrer Nou who arrived from Totana (Murcia) to the town as a child when her father was assigned to the old military barracks, showed everyone her mobile phone. On the screen, she had graphed the evolution that the eclipse would follow as it passed over Mercadal. It would begin at 7:43 PM and extend until 9:19 PM.

Around them, the first beach coolers began to open in search of refreshments. And those who had arrived without any provisions queued at Toro's bar. Fran, its manager, extended the opening hours beyond seven in the evening, when he usually closes on weekdays. But this one was special.

The councilwoman Nerea Nevado, who arrived on the last of the buses, greeted a good part of the people on the esplanade, where David and Magda finally arrived, a middle-aged couple who had been seen stopped halfway up the Toro on foot.

Reporters and cameras interviewed David, an amateur photographer from Northampton (United Kingdom) resident in Mercadal, who had set up his tripod right in front of the viewpoint. "That young man surely understands and knows how everything will go," the neighbors commented in a circle.

"Don't look without your glasses," a mother warned her daughter. Meanwhile, next to her, almost everyone had already put them on to watch the eclipse evolve. "Do you feel the coolness? The weather has already changed," stated Fuensanta. During the long minute of the eclipse, hardly any comments were heard. Only some nervous laughter, some 'ooohs' and a final applause.

Little by little, the buses returned and people began to descend back to the village. At half past nine, in the middle of the darkness, 40 people were still counted descending the mountain on foot.

Many more filled, especially, the promenade of Ciutadella, the coast of Cala Blanca and Cap d'Artrutx and the beach of Son Bou, the official observation areas where greater concentrations of people occurred in Menorca. Especially striking has been the case of Son Bou, where the City Council had put shuttle buses between five in the afternoon and midnight, with a concert by the group Maniacs included, next to the beach.

In any case, the preventive restrictions put in place by the local police have worked without major problems and the 112 has only registered three incidents in Menorca, two in Ciutadella and one in Alaior.