Tarragona is stepping up preparations for the total solar eclipse on 12 August 2026, with Tarragona Provincial Council set to hold a second technical workshop on 4 June at the Diputació Auditorium. The meeting, titled “When the Sun Hides”, is aimed at local institutions, technical staff and regional agents, with the goal of improving coordination ahead of an event expected to have scientific, social and tourism impact across Catalonia.
The programme will combine general information about the eclipse with practical guidance on managing it as a public event. Science communicator Joan Anton Català will give the opening lecture on the astronomical and symbolic aspects of eclipses, while Urbano Lorenzo, a researcher at Rovira i Virgili University (URV), will speak about the social experience of these phenomena.
Safe observation will also be part of the workshop. Elisa Velasco, an optometrist, will offer recommendations from an eye health perspective. For readers following local coverage, see our news page for more Catalonia-wide reporting.
The session will also look at tourism potential, with a focus on astrotourism in the Costa Daurada and Terres de l’Ebre. Marta Nel·lo, researcher and director of the Salou-Costa Daurada Chair of Innovation and Tourism Research at URV, and Alba Font, a geographer and researcher at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), are due to take part in that discussion.
The eclipse is expected to be visible in the Tarragona area between 7.35pm and 9.21pm, with totality around 8.29pm. Officials say the sun will be low in the sky at that point, which makes planning more complex and increases the need for careful preparation by municipalities and other local bodies.
Tarragona Provincial Council says the workshop is intended to give local authorities practical tools to manage key issues and to help turn the eclipse into an opportunity for knowledge, coordination and regional development. More information on the event and the eclipse can be found through the Tarragona Provincial Council and the Rovira i Virgili University.