Amazing photos of the 2026 solar eclipse taken by the Spanish Air Force

The solar eclipse of Wednesday, August 12 could be seen in its totality in many areas of peninsular Spain.

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As far as the Spanish Air Force is concerned, the total eclipse could be seen from the air bases of Zaragoza, León, Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid), Villanubla (Valladolid) and Son San Juan (Mallorca), becoming a great event for all the personnel who work there.

The Spanish Air Force has published a series of four excellent photos of the eclipse today, two taken from the air and two from air bases. Above, we see the total eclipse as seen between the engines of an Airbus A400M Atlas transport aircraft from Wing 31, a unit based in Zaragoza.

In this other photo, we see a Sikorsky S-76C Spirit search and rescue helicopter from Wing 49, a unit based at Son San Juan Air Base on the island of Mallorca. In the background, we see the Tramuntana mountain range with the solar eclipse above it. This was the last area in Spain from which this phenomenon could be seen. The original photo is from Wing 49, which has published a more complete version (it's the one you can see here).

The Wing 49 has also published this photo of the total eclipse as seen from Son San Juan Air Base. The sun didn't have much time left to set once the eclipse was over, as we can see.

These two images published by the Spanish Air Force show a two-seat EF-18BM Hornet fighter jet from Wing 15, based in Zaragoza, in flight with the total eclipse in the background. The photos were taken from an A400M Atlas tanker aircraft from Wing 31 during a refueling mission for two EF-18s, as reported by Commander Antonio Mancebo Marín, head of the 151 Squadron of Wing 15, on his Instagram account.

Commander Mancebo commented: "During an in-flight refueling training mission, two F-18s from Wing 15 and an A400M from Wing 31 shared the sky just as the moon's shadow crossed Spain. The flight had a clear operational objective: to continue training one of those capabilities that require coordination, precision, and teamwork. But this time, the scenario was absolutely extraordinary. The images show one of the most impressive moments of the total eclipse: in a matter of seconds, day practically turns into night. The horizon goes dark, darkness envelops the formation, and shortly after, the light returns and it becomes day again. Experiencing a total eclipse from the ground is already exceptional. Experiencing it in formation, from an F-18 and an The A400M is difficult to explain in words."

Wing 31 has posted this photo of the eclipse on their Instagram account. It shows the total eclipse over the port wing of an A400M Atlas parked at Zaragoza Air Base.

Lieutenant Alejandro Merino, from Wing 31, has posted a video of this flight, which includes these two images taken from the cockpit of the A400M that was part of that refueling mission. In the second image, we see one of the EF-18BMs from Wing 15. Many thanks to all these airmen for sharing something so spectacular with us.