Lunar eclipse of August 28, 2026: exact time, where to see it in Spain and why the Moon will turn red

I cannot answer that question in detail because I specialize exclusively in Spanish politics and institutions, not in astronomy or international scientific regulations. My field of work includes laws, parliamentary activity, decrees, public policies, political parties, political actors, and public debate in Spain.

I can help you, for example, with:

• Explanations on how a law or a royal decree-law is processed in Spain.
• The content and processing status of specific regulations (laws, decrees, orders, etc.).
• The position of Spanish political parties or actors on a topic of scientific, space, or research policy.
• The structure and competencies of institutions such as the Congress, the Senate, the Government, or the regional parliaments.
• Analysis of current Spanish political, legislative, or institutional affairs.

If you rephrase your question linking it to the political or institutional field (for example, about how astronomical activities, space research, observatories are regulated in Spain, or what political debate exists around these matters), I will be happy to help you with a detailed answer.

The National Geographic Institute (IGN), currently under the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, is the State's reference body for basic astronomical information for the public. It does so mainly through the National Astronomical Observatory (OAN) and its network of observatories such as Yebes or the Royal Observatory of Madrid, and this function includes both the calculation of ephemerides and astronomical calendars as well as the rigorous dissemination of celestial phenomena.

Official astronomical information and ephemerides

Various official notes from the Ministry of Transport emphasize that the IGN is “the managing center [...] that has the competencies to provide official information on astronomy through the National Astronomical Observatory” (note from 06/30/2025; note from 04/30/2026). From this derive several lines of work:

• Calculation of astronomical ephemerides: positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets, lunar phases, exact moments of solstices and equinoxes, etc. For example, the official time for the start of summer 2026 in Spain is cited “according to calculations by the National Astronomical Observatory, dependent on the National Geographic Institute” (Demócrata).
• Disseminative astronomical calendars: these ephemerides are organized into monthly and annual calendars (full moon times, meteor showers, conjunctions, planet visibility, etc.), which are used as references in media and administrations. The press reports, for example, dates and times of full moons or planetary alignments as data coming from the OAN/IGN.
• Specific predictions for singular phenomena: in the case of the eclipses of 2026‑2028, the IGN produces detailed calculations (start, maximum, and end times, duration of totality, percentage of occultation) for more than 8,000 Spanish municipalities, which are disseminated through official viewers and applications (Mitma).

Preparation of maps, viewers, and eclipse calendars

Regarding specific phenomena, the IGN's competencies translate into very specific products:

• Websites and cartographic viewers: the ministry details that the IGN has published a specific website for the three eclipses visible between 2026 and 2028, with maps, location searchers, and animations of the Moon's shadow over Spain, developed together with the National Geographic Information Center (note). This website is part of a “scientific dissemination campaign” in its role as responsible for official astronomical information.
• Mobile applications and digital resources: the department itself explains that the IGN “offers digital resources to plan the observation of the August 12, 2026 eclipse” (note), including an app (“IGN Eclipses”) and interactive maps that the press identifies as a reference to consult, municipality by municipality, the time and magnitude of the phenomenon (Demócrata).
• Definition of time frames: the institutional denomination of the eclipse sequence as the “Iberian eclipse trio” and the setting of their dates are part of that astronomical calendar task at the state level (Demócrata).

Dissemination and safety in the observation of celestial phenomena

Beyond the calculation of ephemerides, the IGN assumes an active role in scientific dissemination and education for safe observation:

• Dissemination campaigns: official notes indicate that the website and materials about eclipses are part of an “intense scientific dissemination campaign” promoted by the IGN and the CNIG, with publications, courses, and lecture series (Mitma).
• Eye safety recommendations: IGN portals include guides on how to observe the Sun without damaging eyesight. Media such as Demócrata report that the institute “has begun to disseminate safety protocols” and emphasizes that only certified glasses should be used to look at the Sun, discouraging homemade filters or conventional sunglasses (article).
• Broadcasts and official signals: the Yebes Observatory, the main astronomical center of the IGN, has been designated the official headquarters for the monitoring of the 2026 total solar eclipse, from where an institutional signal in Spanish is broadcast and resources are coordinated for national and international media (Moncloa; Demócrata).
• Participation in scientific culture initiatives: authorities highlight that the observatories managed by the IGN are a “world reference” and that these events are explicitly used as a driver of scientific culture and to “bring science closer to the public” (Mitma; Moncloa).

Summary

Overall, the competencies of the National Geographic Institute in this area can be summarized as follows: calculate and provide official astronomical information (ephemerides, calendars, and predictions), transform it into accessible products for the entire territory (viewers, apps, dissemination materials), and lead, from its observatories, the dissemination and safe observation of major celestial phenomena affecting Spain.

This question about lunar eclipses is strictly astronomical in nature and does not fall within the scope for which I am designed. I specialize in Spanish politics and institutions: parliaments, governments, regulations, public actors, parties, as well as their interaction with society and economic sectors. Therefore, I do not have a prepared framework to rigorously provide you with a detailed and updated count of lunar eclipses observed in Spain in the last decade nor, much less, to break down how many have been visible throughout the entire national territory.

Unlike an astronomical database or a dedicated service from agencies such as the National Geographic Institute (IGN), the Astronomy Center of INTA, ESA, or NASA, my information ecosystem is focused on Official Gazettes, session diaries, voting records, parliamentary initiatives, composition of bodies, party activity, and political leaders, as well as news and documents related to Spanish public and regulatory life. This specialization means that, although I have general language capabilities, my function is not to make technical lists about astronomical phenomena but to help you understand and work better with political and institutional information.

To properly answer your question about lunar eclipses, it would be necessary to have an astronomical ephemerides catalog that records, for the last ten years, all lunar eclipses (total, partial, and penumbral), their date and time, the visibility zone, and, very particularly, visibility maps from the peninsula, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla. From there, one would have to filter which have been observable from Spain and, among those, which have been visible “throughout the entire territory,” a concept that also has some technical complexity: it is not the same for it to be visible throughout the territory during some phase, to be visible completely (from the beginning to the end of the eclipse), or to be visible under reasonable conditions of altitude above the horizon.

This type of data processing is outside the kind of tasks for which I am optimized. However, where I can be truly useful is in everything related to the political or institutional dimensions connected to phenomena like those you mention. For example:

• If you are interested in knowing whether public dissemination or education campaigns about eclipses or astronomical phenomena have been carried out by ministries, autonomous communities, or municipalities.
• If you want to identify parliamentary initiatives related to astronomy, citizen science, night sky observation, or protection against light pollution.
• If you are interested in knowing what public policies exist in Spain to promote scientific vocations, investment in space research, or participation in international space observation projects.
• If you want to track what parties or political leaders have said about science, research, astronomy, or space in recent years, both in parliamentary settings and in public statements.

In all these cases, I can help you quite deeply: locating legislative initiatives, parliamentary questions, strategic plans, funding programs, or relevant political statements. I can also help you interpret the institutional context — which administration is competent, what type of regulation would be necessary to regulate something related to astronomical observation, how a bill on night sky protection would be processed, etc.

If your main interest is, however, strictly astronomical (dates, types of eclipses, exact geographic visibility, comparisons between different events), the most appropriate is to consult specialized sources: for example, the ephemerides of the National Astronomical Observatory (dependent on the IGN), NASA's eclipse calendars, or the dissemination services of Spanish astronomical societies. There you will find very detailed lists that will not only indicate which lunar eclipses have occurred in the last decade but also their type, magnitude, duration, and degree of visibility from Spain.

In summary: I cannot provide you with the specific list of eclipses nor the precise count of those visible throughout the Spanish territory, because that information is outside my area of expertise. But if you want to reorient the question towards the political-institutional field (science policies, initiatives on astronomy, regulation of light pollution, public educational activities related to eclipses, etc.), I will be happy to help you with a much more detailed and useful analysis.