Eclipse and Perseids in Mallorca: the whole night of 12 to 13 August

Two things happen in the same sky on 12 August 2026, twelve hours apart. At 20:31, a total solar eclipse. From 23:00 that same night, the peak of the Perseid meteor shower under a new moon, with no moonlight getting in the way.

It is not a coincidence that they fall together. A solar eclipse can only happen at new moon, and a new moon is exactly what makes a meteor shower worth watching. Both depend on the same fact: that afternoon the moon sits in front of the sun, and that night it never rises.

This combination will not happen over Mallorca again this century.

The exact times

All times are local (CEST), the same across mainland Spain and the Balearics. Data from Spain's National Geographic Institute (IGN).

Between the end of the eclipse and the start of the Perseids there are roughly two hours of dusk and a sky slowly going dark. That is the dinner window.

What the Perseids are, and why 2026 is a good year

The Perseids are debris from comet Swift-Tuttle, which last came close to Earth in 1992. Every August our planet crosses the trail of dust and rock it left behind, and those particles burn up as they hit the atmosphere at more than 50 kilometres per second. That is what you see as a streak.

In Spain they are also called the Tears of St Lawrence, because his feast day falls on 10 August and the shower always arrives around then.

The shower runs from 17 July to 24 August. What changes each year is the moon. Under a full moon, half the meteors are lost in the glare. In 2026 the new moon falls on the afternoon of 12 August, so peak night is completely dark. It is the best possible combination and it does not come round often.

How many you will actually see. The figures doing the rounds, 90 to 200 meteors an hour, are theoretical: they assume a perfect sky, the radiant high overhead and a completely clear horizon. In practice, lying down somewhere dark in the mountains, patient and off your phone, several dozen an hour during the good hours is a realistic expectation. That is still plenty.

Where to look

The radiant, the point the meteors appear to come from, sits in the constellation of Perseus, to the north-east. From Mallorca's latitude, Perseus stays above the horizon all night and climbs higher as the small hours go on. That is why the last hours are the best ones.

That said, do not look at the radiant. Meteors coming straight out of it are seen head-on and leave a short streak. The good long ones appear well away from it. What works is looking at open sky, with the widest field of view you can manage, and waiting.

The IGN's advice, in short:

• Pick a spot with few obstructions: no buildings, no trees, no mountain in the way.
• No binoculars, no telescope. They narrow your field of view and work against you.
• Give your eyes twenty minutes to adapt to the dark. Every time you light up your phone screen, you start again.
• Lie down. It is the only position that survives two hours of looking up.

Why the Sóller valley

The valley is closed in by the Serra de Tramuntana, with the Puig Major at the far end. That wall of mountain cuts off part of the sky, and in exchange it blocks the glow from Palma, which is the island's main source of light pollution.

The result is a considerably darker sky than the south coast or any of the resort areas around the bay. It is not an observatory, but for lying down and watching stars in August it is among the best you will find half an hour from Palma.

Port de Sóller adds an open sea horizon to the north and west, which is exactly what the sunset eclipse needs. The viewpoints on the road up towards Lluc, above the village, gain height and put the valley lights behind you.

Check the forecast before heading up. The real risk in August is not cloud, it is haze and Saharan dust sitting on the horizon.

The practical catch: if you stay, you are not getting the train back

Worth being blunt about this, because it is the part people discover at eleven at night.

The Perseid peak is in the small hours. There is no train or tram running at that time. If your plan is to watch the eclipse at sunset and head back to Palma, the train works. If your plan is to stay for the Perseids, you need to sleep in the valley or drive down in the middle of the night.

They are two different plans, and it is worth choosing before you leave:

Plan A, eclipse only. Go up in the afternoon, watch totality from the port or from the water, have dinner and come back. All of it on the railway's own track, with no dependence on traffic.

Plan B, the whole night. Go up in the afternoon, watch the eclipse, have dinner and stay through until dawn. You will need a room booked in Sóller or the port, or a car to drive down when you are done. Accommodation in the valley for that night is going to be very tight at this stage.

Bear in mind too that traffic on the Ma-10 and around twenty other mountain roads is restricted that day, broadly from 15:00 to 21:00. Things normalise after that, but the flow of cars coming down straight after the eclipse will be heavy. We have covered it in detail here: which roads close on 12 August and how to get there.

What to bring if you stay the night

• Certified eclipse glasses to ISO 12312-2 for the afternoon. The Perseids need nothing at all: they are a naked-eye event and any filter gets in the way.
• A mat or a thick towel. Nobody lasts two hours looking up while standing.
• Warm layers. In August, at 400 metres and four in the morning, it genuinely gets cold.
• A red torch, or red cellophane over your phone light. White light kills your night vision for half an hour.
• Water and food. Do not count on anything being open in the small hours.
• Patience. Meteors come in bursts: twenty minutes of nothing, then three in a row.

Watching the eclipse without damaging your eyes

This applies to the afternoon only. During the partial phases, looking at the sun without a certified filter causes permanent eye damage. Ordinary sunglasses do not work. Neither do camera film, CDs or smoked glass.

Only during the minute and a half of totality, with the sun's disc fully covered, can you look with the naked eye. The moment the first point of light returns, glasses back on.

The Perseids carry no risk at all. It is just meteor light.

Photographing them

With a phone you will get very little unless it has a long night mode and you can prop it somewhere solid. With a camera and tripod:

• The widest lens you own, aperture as open as it goes.
• High ISO, somewhere between 1600 and 3200 depending on how dark it is.
• Exposures of 15 to 25 seconds, run back to back with a remote or an intervalometer.
• Manual focus set to infinity and checked beforehand on a bright star. Autofocus will find nothing.
• Frame open sky, not the radiant, and leave some landscape at the bottom for scale.

And accept that most frames will come back without a meteor in them. It is a numbers game.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best time to see the Perseids on 12 August?

Activity picks up around 23:00 on the 12th, but the peak falls between 04:00 and 06:00 in the early hours of the 13th. The later the better, because the radiant is higher.

Can you really see the eclipse and the Perseids on the same night?

Yes, and that is what makes this date exceptional. Totality is at 20:31 on the 12th and the Perseids peak in the small hours. There are about two hours of dusk in between.

Do I need a telescope or binoculars?

No, and they actually get in the way. The Perseids are a naked-eye event, and any optical instrument narrows your field of view, which is the opposite of what you want.

How many meteors an hour will I see?

The 90 or 200 an hour figures are theoretical and assume perfect conditions. Somewhere genuinely dark, with your eyes adapted, expect several dozen an hour during the best hours.

Can I get the train back to Palma after the Perseids?

No. The peak is in the small hours and there is no service at that time. If you stay all night, you need accommodation in the valley or your own vehicle.

What if it is cloudy?

The Perseids run from 17 July to 24 August, so a clear night near the peak beats the peak night under cloud. The eclipse gets no second chance.

Where are the best spots in Mallorca?

Anywhere in the Serra de Tramuntana away from the lights, with a reasonably open horizon. Check that afternoon's traffic restrictions first.

Getting up there by train

The Sóller train leaves from Palma and crosses the mountains on its own track, without using the road. It is the simplest way into the valley on the afternoon of 12 August, which is precisely the day the mountain roads will be under restriction.

Check timetables and tickets

For the combined train, tram and boat trip on eclipse day, with limited places: check availability.

Eclipse and Perseid data: Instituto Geográfico Nacional. Traffic restrictions: Govern de les Illes Balears, announced 16 July 2026, subject to change up to the day itself.