Glasses for the solar eclipse 2026: where to get them for free and how to check that they are safe

The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU) does not appear, in the available information, as a direct buyer of the eclipse glasses through a standard supply contract, but has mainly structured the operation through a direct grant to Fundación ONCE and a collaboration agreement MICIU–Grupo Social ONCE–FECYT, within the framework of the Interministerial Commission of the Trio of Eclipses. The glasses (two million units) are provided by the Grupo Social ONCE and MICIU channels the distribution and dissemination through FECYT and collaborating entities. No specific national tenders for the supply of glasses have been identified, but rather a scheme of grant, agreement, and dissemination and safety campaigns.

1. Search and scope

The information has been collected at the national level (Government of Spain), focused on MICIU. If a specific regional or local contract or agreement is sought, the corresponding community or municipality should be reviewed.

2. Institutional framework: Interministerial Commission of the Trio of Eclipses

The administrative device starts with the creation of an Interministerial Commission to prepare the Trio of Eclipses 2026‑2027‑2028, attached to MICIU. Its work is reflected in the ministry's own notes:

• First meeting, chaired by Secretary of State Juan Cruz Cigudosa, where working groups are established (public health, mobility, scientific dissemination, etc.): first meeting.
• Second meeting, which formally incorporates the autonomous communities and confirms that FECYT coordinates the scientific dissemination group: second meeting.

This framework serves as an umbrella for subsequent decisions on eye protection and glasses distribution.

3. Royal Decree of direct grant to Fundación ONCE

The key legal instrument linking MICIU with ONCE is the Draft Royal Decree for the direct grant to Fundación ONCE “for collaboration in dissemination and eye protection activities during the Trio of Eclipses 2026‑2027‑2028.” This text has undergone a phase of public hearing and information on the ministry's website:

• public hearing on Fundación ONCE grant

The available excerpt indicates that the Interministerial Commission created by Royal Decree 686/2025 is attached to MICIU through the Secretary of State, reinforcing that the grant is framed within that structure. The final publication of the royal decree in the BOE and full details (exact amount, economic report, etc.) are not available in the sources.

4. MICIU–Grupo Social ONCE–FECYT Agreement

The newspaper Demócrata and other news report that, on this basis, MICIU has signed a collaboration agreement with Grupo Social ONCE and FECYT:

• Demócrata explains that the distribution of two million glasses is part of a “signed agreement” between MICIU and ONCE for the Trio of Eclipses: Free glasses to watch the eclipse and where to get them.
• Another Demócrata piece with a political angle details the role of the Government and ONCE: Government and ONCE will distribute glasses.
• The Europa Press agency, cited by Infosalus, specifies that the agreement was signed at the MUNCYT in A Coruña between Secretary of State Juan Cruz Cigudosa and ONCE's first vice president, Alberto Durán, with participation from FECYT's director: Infosalus news.

According to these reports, the key administrative elements of the agreement are:

• The Grupo Social ONCE provides the 2,000,000 certified glasses for observing the Trio of Eclipses.
• FECYT (a public sector entity attached to MICIU) distributes 300,000 glasses among science museums, research centers, and other public entities.
• MICIU, through FECYT, undertakes scientific dissemination campaigns and activities, production of accessible materials, and management of the official Trio of Eclipses website.

5. Distribution and collaboration with other administrations

Physical distribution is structured through:

• ONCE's network of sellers (1.7 million glasses), according to Demócrata: how to get them.
• Science centers and museums, such as the Coruñese Scientific Museums, integrated into the state campaign “A unique view. Take care of it,” promoted by MICIU and ONCE: A Coruña note.
• Regional awareness campaigns linked to the same campaign, such as the one presented in Galicia: campaign in Galicia.

6. Absence of identified supply tenders

In the consulted sources (BOE, MICIU website, news, and Demócrata newspaper) there are no announcements of public contracting for glasses by the ministry (open, simplified, emergency procedures, etc.). Everything points to the General State Administration opting for a scheme of direct grant and agreement, where:

• Fundación ONCE receives a grant regulated by royal decree for eye protection and dissemination.
• Grupo Social ONCE assumes the provision of the material (glasses) as its own contribution within the agreement, with no supply contract with MICIU recorded.

No further information is available on other possible contracting files related to the eclipse glasses.

7. Other related actions

Alongside the glasses distribution, other departments have adopted complementary measures, such as issuing commemorative stamps (stamp resolution on the eclipse) or digital resources to plan observation, coordinated by Transport: Transport note. Also, various regional and local administrations have organized their own distributions and eye safety campaigns.

The Madrid City Council can actively participate in organizing astronomical events (for example, an eclipse) and in distributing eye protection material, but it does so relying on general competences of civil protection, municipal public health, consumer affairs, public shows and public space, and cultural promotion. There is no specific regulation on eclipses or solar glasses in the consulted norms, but a general framework that enables preventive campaigns and event organization, always coordinated with the Community of Madrid and, if applicable, with the State. If it distributes glasses or other filters, the City Council assumes duties of diligence and possible liabilities for the safety of the material or the information it provides.

Basic framework of municipal competences

The central piece is Law 7/1985, Regulating the Bases of Local Regime, which sets the municipalities' own competences, including:

• Civil protection, fire prevention and extinction, and local police as a mandatory service in municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants (article that, in the text, includes “local police, civil protection, fire prevention and extinction”). The consolidated text can be consulted in Law 7/1985, its erratum, and previous amendments such as Law 4/1996 and Law 39/1994.
• Protection of public health and other inspection and sanction functions of activities, commercial establishments, and public shows (own and delegable competences, according to the municipal matters list).
• Promotion of culture and cultural facilities, which supports organizing outreach activities such as astronomical observations.

From this framework, it follows that the City Council can: organize or support events in public spaces; regulate their development through licenses or other controls when justified by safety or health; and deploy associated preventive actions, such as distributing eye protection material and information campaigns.

Civil protection and coordination with the Community of Madrid and the State

At the state level, Law 17/2015, of the National Civil Protection System recognizes that local entities have their own civil protection services and are integrated into an inter-administrative cooperation scheme (National Civil Protection Council and information networks). This law emphasizes prevention and coordination of public resources in the face of risks affecting the population.

At the regional level, Law 5/2023, of the Integrated Civil Protection and Emergency System of the Community of Madrid (also published in the BOCM) establishes that municipal civil protection territorial plans must align with the regional Territorial Plan, approved by the Community of Madrid's Civil Protection Territorial Plan. Therefore, the Madrid City Council:

• Can include in its municipal plans protocols of action and communication for exceptional risks or crowds, even for astronomical events that gather large populations.
• Must coordinate with the Madrid 112 Security and Emergency Agency, regulated by Law 5/2023 and norms such as Decree 165/2018 and Decree 217/2023.

In case of larger emergencies, Law 17/2015 foresees state intervention and aid to local corporations, as detailed in its articles on severely affected areas and municipal aid.

Public health, preventive campaigns, and consumer affairs

Law 33/2011, General Public Health Law reinforces the idea that health is protected through preventive and health promotion policies, including information to citizens. Although the law does not detail article by article the competences of municipalities, it configures a public health system where local entities are part of the territorial deployment of these policies.

Within this framework, the Madrid City Council can legitimately:

• Promote information campaigns about the risks of looking directly at the sun and the correct use of certified glasses or filters.
• Distribute preventive material (glasses, leaflets) as a health promotion and public health protection action, provided the material meets applicable technical standards.

If acting as a product distributor, it also assumes responsibility in consumer and product safety matters, in connection with state product safety regulations and, in food matters, laws such as Law 17/2011 (not directly applicable to glasses but illustrative of the preventive safety approach). No further specific information on glasses safety standards was found in the consulted sources.

Public order, public space, and shows

The Community of Madrid regulates public shows and recreational activities and their sanctioning regime through Law 17/1997 (not fully shown), amended, among others, by Law 9/2010. From the latter it follows that:

• Initiation, instruction, and resolution of sanctioning files for show infractions correspond to municipalities (article 43, according to the consulted fragment).
• An article 21 bis on behaviors in public spaces is introduced, enabling municipalities to sanction, via ordinances, behaviors that disturb coexistence.

Applied to a massive astronomical event in squares or streets, the City Council can:

• Authorize, limit, or condition gatherings and activities, in coordination with the Government Delegation (for example, according to delegated competences in the Resolution of June 2, 2023).
• Require security measures (capacity control, signage, information points) and order the distribution or recommendation of glasses, incorporating it into the authorization conditions.

City Council responsibility

If the Madrid City Council directly distributes glasses or other filters:

• It is liable as a public administration for the service operation if defective or inadequate material causes harm to third parties.
• It has a duty of diligence in selecting suppliers (public contracting) and verifying that the product complies with applicable technical standards.
• It must avoid misleading citizens about the real protection level of the glasses, always integrating clear messages on correct use and residual risks.

Among other reviewed provisions, although with very peripheral impact on this issue, are civil protection, traffic, health, or administrative management norms, such as Royal Decree 840/2015, the National Civil Protection Strategy, the Consolidated Traffic Law, sectoral labor regulations, the extension of health resources to the Community of Madrid, Law 8/2024 on public management measures, Law 13/2022 on Pharmaceutical Regulation, organization of the 113th Executive Council meeting of the WTO, or sectoral resolutions such as Order APA/782/2022, as well as various budgetary and organizational norms consulted ([link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link], [link]), without specific provisions on eclipses or eye protection material being found in them.

In the last decade (2016‑2026) there is only record of one total solar eclipse visible from Spanish territory: the one that will take place on August 12, 2026. Authorities and scientific media emphasize that it will be the first total eclipse visible from the Iberian Peninsula in over a century and that it inaugurates the “trio of eclipses” 2026‑2028, with another total in 2027 and an annular in 2028, but no other total eclipse has been visible from Spain between 2016 and today. Therefore, all the management of protection material distribution we know refers to this 2026 eclipse and its preparation.

Number of total solar eclipses visible from Spain in the decade

Information from the Demócrata newspaper and official sources agree that August 12, 2026 will be the first total solar eclipse visible from Spain in over a century. Demócrata presents it as a phenomenon whose path of totality will cross the peninsula “from west to east” and will place Spain as one of the best places in the world for observation, starting the “Trio of Eclipses” completed with another total on August 2, 2027, and an annular on January 26, 2028, according to pieces like Solar eclipse 2026 in Spain, recommendations and risks, dates and keys, or best places to see it.

Additionally, the Ministry of Transport and IGN, when launching the official website about the three eclipses, remind that the August 12, 2026 eclipse is “the first total solar eclipse visible from the Iberian Peninsula in over a century,” and that there will be another total in 2027 and an annular in 2028, according to the note Transport launches a website about the three eclipses visible in Spain in 2026, 2027, and 2028 and the technical development in digital resources to plan observation. No other total eclipse visible from Spain between 2016 and 2025 is mentioned; there were partial eclipses, such as the March 29, 2025 one described by El País, but not total ones.

Therefore, in the period 2016‑2026 the balance is:

• Total solar eclipses visible from Spain: 1 (August 12, 2026).
• Additional total solar eclipses in the decade: none until 2027 (which is outside the temporal limit of the question).

State management of eye protection for the 2026 eclipse

The institutional response has been articulated at several levels:

• Scientific and safety planning. The central government, through IGN and the Ministry of Transport, has created cartographic visualizers and the “IGN Eclipses” app to plan safe observation of the eclipse in more than 8,000 municipalities, integrating astronomical information and safety recommendations, according to this note and the general website about the Iberian Trio of eclipses 2026‑2028 collected in this other communication.
• “A unique view. Take care of it” campaign and massive glasses distribution. The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU), FECYT, and Grupo Social ONCE have signed an agreement to distribute free two million certified glasses for the total eclipse of 2026 and the rest of the Trio of Eclipses. Demócrata details that ONCE will distribute 1.7 million glasses and FECYT 300,000, through research centers, science museums, and public entities, in the piece Government and ONCE will distribute two million glasses for free, expanded with practical explanations in this report and in where to get them and who distributes them. The same scheme is recorded in the Europa Press note for Infosalus about free distribution.
• Messages of caution and public health. The central government has insisted on avoiding massive displacements and following health and regional guidelines. This is emphasized in the intervention of the Secretary of State for Science and in several Demócrata pieces, such as Pedro Sánchez's call for caution in Sánchez asks for caution before the eclipse, health warnings about eye injuries in recommendations and risks, and health articles like the ophthalmologists' warning, alerts about irreversible damage, the OCU's position, or warnings from the General Nursing Council.
• Parliamentary impetus. The Spanish Parliament has supported safety, research, and coordination measures for the Trio of Eclipses through a PNL that recognizes the exceptional nature of the 2026‑2028 eclipses and emphasizes safety and dissemination measures, as Demócrata reports in this parliamentary report.

Actions by autonomous communities and municipalities

Autonomous communities and municipalities have complemented the state device, mainly with information campaigns and their own distributions of certified glasses:

• Community of Madrid: has enabled 52 observation points and will distribute 36,500 certified glasses, in addition to another 20,000 already distributed in previous events, according to the note from the Community of Madrid. The Madrid City Council, for its part, will distribute free glasses at the Planetarium and other municipal spaces, as detailed in the note about the “trio of eclipses” visited by Almeida.
• Generalitat of Catalonia: has designed a specific mobility and civil protection device, with activation of PROCICAT and 150,000 certified glasses distributed in 23 official observation points, according to this note from the Government.
• Basque Government: has launched a campaign to promote safe observation of the eclipse, insisting on the use of ISO 12312‑2 certified glasses and avoiding unnecessary travel, with all information centralized on the website eklipsea.euskadi.eus, according to this communication.
• Junta of Andalusia: through its General Directorate of Consumer Affairs, has issued very detailed safety recommendations on the use of glasses with ISO 12312‑2 standard, purchase through official channels, and safe handling, collected in this note, although without detailing a massive own distribution.
• Galicia: the Xunta has joined the “A unique view. Take care of it” campaign, highlighting the use of specific glasses and the distribution of material by ONCE, according to its press release about the presentation in A Coruña.

At the municipal level, there are concrete examples of direct glasses distribution:

• València: the City Council has approved a special protocol, designated an official observation point on urban beaches, and emphasizes the need to use certified glasses (municipal protocol). Additionally, València Sostenible gives certified glasses to those who visit the Energy Office or the Climate Change Observatory, guaranteeing one per person and prioritizing participants in educational activities, according to this campaign.
• Pamplona: the City Council will distribute 7,000 protective glasses among vulnerable and low-income populations, through the Civivox network and municipal social services, in collaboration with the Government of Navarra, according to the municipal note municipal.

Summary on the distribution of protection material

In summary, in the decade 2016‑2026 only one total solar eclipse visible from Spain has been planned for, that of August 12, 2026, and the distribution of protection material is structured at three levels:

• State: scientific coordination (IGN, Transport), political framework (PNL in Parliament), and a large campaign to distribute 2 million glasses together with ONCE and FECYT, explained both by Demócrata —in pieces such as Government and ONCE, glasses distribution, where to get the glasses, and how to check they are safe— and by Europa Press in Infosalus.
• Autonomous communities: safety campaigns (Euskadi, Andalusia, Galicia), civil protection and mobility devices (Catalonia, Community of Madrid), and, in some cases, own distribution of tens of thousands of glasses (Madrid) or hundreds of thousands (Catalonia).
• Municipalities: local civil protection and mobility protocols (València, Madrid), plus specific distributions (València, Pamplona) to bring certified glasses closer to the general population and, particularly, vulnerable groups.

The available sources do not describe similar actions in Spain for other total solar eclipses within the decade, because there have been none; safety campaigns for partial eclipses, such as that of March 2025, are documented, where the use of certified glasses was emphasized by professional and health organizations, according to InfoSalus and Gaceta Médica, but without mass distribution plans comparable to those of the 2026 total eclipse.