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 day suddenly darkened, as the Moon covered the Sun, which was already beginning to set.

The island's highest mountain, where the Bishopric intends to convert the former convent of contemplative nuns into a guesthouse, would have been one of the spots that, at 358 meters high, would have been most crowded to watch the eclipse. But its inclusion in the list of restricted areas 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 the only bus tickets in time, which the Mercadal Town Council put on sale last week to facilitate the controlled transport of part of the population, ascended El Toro.

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

“The tickets sold out in two hours,” commented Isabel Marquès to her friend Paquita, worried that the few bus seats wouldn't be reserved for the village 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 village 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 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 ice cream parlors 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 it on weekdays. But this one was special.

The councilwoman Nerea Nevado, who arrived with 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 were interviewing David, an amateur photographer from Northampton (United Kingdom) living in Mercadal, who had set up his tripod right in front of the viewpoint. "That young man surely knows what he's doing and 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 cool? The weather has already changed," stated Fuensanta. During the long minute of the eclipse, hardly any comments were heard. Only some nervous laughter, a few '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 darkness, 40 people were still counted descending the mountain on foot.

Many more filled, especially, the Maritime Promenade of Ciutadella, the coast of Cala Blanca and Cap d'Artrutx and Son Bou beach, the official observation areas where the largest concentrations of people occurred in Menorca. Especially noteworthy has been the case of Son Bou, where the City Council had provided 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 various local police forces worked without major problems, and 112 only registered three incidents in Menorca, two in Ciutadella and one in Alaior.