Pedro Sánchez will change for a few hours this Wednesday the setting of his vacation in Lanzarote for Guadalajara to contemplate the etotal solar eclipse from the Yebes Observatory. The president of the Government will travel from La Mareta, where he spends his summer vacation, to the scientific center chosen by the Executive as the official venue to follow the astronomical phenomenon of August 12.
The trip had been anticipated in recent days by several media. DEMÓCRATA learned of the possibility of the trip before it was made public and tried to confirm it directly with the involved institutions. The Junta of Castilla-La Mancha was consulted about the possible presence of the president in the region, but at that moment it had no knowledge of the trip. The Yebes Observatory was also contacted, from where it was indicated that they could not provide information about a potential presidential presence.
The consultations occurred when the Ceuta crisis had already begun and while Sánchez remained on vacation in Lanzarote. None of the consulted institutions confirmed the trip at that time. Subsequently, several media published that the president planned to go to Guadalajara to follow the eclipse and the information has been consolidating in recent hours.
Yebes, the center chosen by the Government
The presence of Sánchez in Yebes also has an institutional component. The Government decided in May that the Yebes Astronomical Observatory would become the official center for monitoring the total solar eclipse of August 12. The Minister of Science, Diana Morant, announced then that the Executive would organize there a device also aimed at facilitating the broadcast of the phenomenon to national and international media.
Sánchez himself had already actively participated in the preparation of the event. On July 21, he chaired at La Moncloa the coordination meeting of the so-called "Trio of Eclipses," which includes the extraordinary astronomical phenomena that will cross Spain between 2026 and 2028.
At that meeting, the Government also presented a study that calculates a net economic impact of 347.6 million euros from the eclipse of August 12. The report estimates the arrival of about 446,700 additional visitors during the week of the phenomenon and an increase in tourist spending of more than 342 million euros.
An exceptional day for science
The eclipse of August 12 will be the first total solar eclipse visible from the Iberian Peninsula in more than a century. The path of totality will cross a good part of the north and east of Spain and will turn the country into one of the main observation points of the phenomenon.
The Government has prepared a specific security and civil protection device in anticipation of mass movements. The General Directorate of Traffic has incorporated the eclipse into its special summer planning due to the concentration of vehicles expected in the areas located within the path of totality.
The Executive estimates that the phenomenon will cause an extraordinary movement of people during the week of August 10 to 16. The report presented by Sánchez indicates, among other indicators, a 7.9% increase in scheduled airplane seats compared to the same period in 2025 and a 17.8% increase in hotel bookings for August.
The Yebes Observatory has thus become one of the nerve centers of the day. It is expected that scientists, experts, media, and institutional representatives will gather there to follow the moment when the Moon completely covers the solar disk.