Frequently Asked Questions

We spent the better part of a year planning to be in Tarifa, alongside friends who have been chasing eclipses a great deal longer than we have. They had taken on a whole small hotel there more than a year ahead — securing it and paying for it long before anyone knew how many rooms would be wanted. That is a real risk to carry, and they carried it.

In the end the hotel would not shorten its six-night commitment to the four nights that suited us, and the cost of the longer stay was more than our group could reach. Nobody did anything wrong. The numbers simply did not meet.

They were straightforward with us throughout, kept looking for alternatives well after it was clear we could not make it work, and were generous to the last. We hope to find ourselves standing under totality with them somewhere down the line.

Because it is inside the path of totality, and because it let us take an entire property rather than a scattering of rooms.

Cortijo Alegria gives us all eleven apartments, the pool and ten thousand square metres of garden for seven nights, at a price per person well below what we had been looking at. Malaga airport is thirty minutes away rather than two and a half hours. And we can watch the eclipse from the garden rather than organising a convoy — while still being close enough to open country to move if the morning calls for it.

We give up about a minute and three quarters of totality against Tarifa. Almost everything else about the week is better.

2 minutes 54 seconds, with partial phases running for well over an hour either side. Maximum is at 10:49 AM CEST on Monday 2 August 2027.

The garden is our default, and a good one: at that moment the sun will be roughly 40° above the horizon and almost due east, high enough that nothing on the property should be in the way.

But we will not fix the spot in advance. The final call gets made hours before, once we can see what the sky is doing. Please plan on that rather than on the garden.

Two different questions here, with two different answers.

For extra seconds of totality, no. Marbella, 30–40 minutes west, gets 3m19s — twenty-five extra seconds in exchange for moving a convoy of cars into eclipse-morning coastal traffic and finding parking at the other end. Tarifa's 4m39s is nearly three hours each way through the worst traffic anywhere on the path. Neither is worth it.

For cloud, absolutely. That is the question that actually decides where we stand, and we will not answer it until the morning. We will be watching the forecast for days beforehand; expect the final call somewhere between the night before and a couple of hours ahead. Tanks full, gear packed, ready to move inland or along the coast if the sky says so.

So please don't treat the garden as fixed. Committing to one spot to keep the logistics tidy is the easiest way there is to miss an eclipse.

Yes — ISO 12312-2 certified glasses for everyone, plus spares. Please don't buy your own. They sell out in the months before an eclipse, so I am buying early.

Early August on the Costa del Sol is about as reliable as European weather gets, and a 10:49 eclipse is late enough in the morning that any overnight marine layer has usually burned off.

The risk is not zero, which is exactly why we are keeping our options open. Open country lies within twenty minutes in three directions, and staying mobile costs us nothing. We will be watching the forecast for several days beforehand and will move if we have to — the decision may not come until a few hours before totality.

Very — with one caveat. It is a private property with a large garden, so you can set up and leave equipment out, with no permits, no crowds and nobody competing for space.

The caveat: don't build anything you cannot strike in twenty minutes. If the forecast turns we will move, and you will want to be able to come with us. Plan a rig that travels.

Power outlets in the garden are something I still need to confirm. Assume battery power for now.

We have the property from Thursday 29 July to Thursday 5 August 2027. Check-in is from 2pm and checkout is by 10am.

Come and go whenever suits you within that week. The price covers the full seven nights either way — and even if you only stay for part of it, it still comes in under what four nights in Tarifa would have cost. We just hope you're there for Monday 2 August.

I have booked the whole of Cortijo Alegria through Airbnb for all seven nights — every apartment, the pool and the grounds. There are no other guests on the property that week. The booking is in my name and is paid for.

$12,300 for the whole property. That figure is divided among the beds, and nothing else is added to it.

Everyone pays a flat share toward the parts we all use equally — the pool, the gardens, the terraces, the location — plus an amount for their own room based on floor area, bathroom access, air conditioning, and outdoor space — terraces, balconies and views. Rooms run from $840 to $1,680 for the week, which is $420 to $840 each once two of you are in them.

They break even at about 23 of the 28 beds. If we do better than that, I refund the difference proportionally — at a full house that comes to roughly 20% back, within two weeks of the final headcount.

I would much rather hand money back than come to you in February asking for more.

Talk to me directly and we will sort it out. About half the group has already paid; I am working through the rest individually rather than against a deadline.

I assign them — they are not first-come, first-served.

Tell me who you are travelling with, whether you need a double bed, whether heat or stairs are a problem for you, and whether you would rather save money or have more space. I will do my best by everyone. If you end up somewhere that does not work, tell me and we will sort it.

Full refund before 31 January 2027. 50% between 1 February and 30 April. Nothing after that.

If the trip does not happen, everyone gets everything back.

A 500-year-old Andalusian estate in the hills above Mijas: eleven self-contained apartments each with its own kitchen, a private pool, a chapel we are welcome to use, a communal kitchen and around 10,000 m² of garden. Twenty minutes from both Malaga and Marbella, eight minutes from the sea.

It is run by Lidia Beutz. You can see it on Airbnb or at feel-spain.com.

All of them except apartment 10, which is priced lower to reflect it.

When it is hot, the pool and the communal kitchen are there for everyone. I am also asking the owner about fans for apartment 10. If heat is a problem for you, tell me and I will not put you there.

Twenty single beds and five doubles, across fifteen bedrooms in eleven apartments. Five apartments have two singles; two have a double only; three have a double plus two singles split across two bedrooms; one has four singles across two bedrooms.

The owner has confirmed that the single beds can be pushed together, so couples can go in almost any room. There are no toppers, so expect a seam down the middle — this is a farmhouse, not a hotel.

Most apartments have one bathroom, and in most of them it is yours alone. Apartment 8 has two — one for each bedroom. In apartments 7 and 9 the single bathroom is shared between the two bedrooms, and those rooms are priced lower to reflect it.

No meals are included. Every apartment has its own fully equipped kitchen, and there is a covered dining porch seating around forty for when we want to eat together.

Supermarkets are a short drive, and I expect we will do a big shop on arrival.

Linens and towels are provided. There are laundry machines on site, and the Wi-Fi is fine for ordinary use.

There is no cleaning during the stay, so for the week we look after the place ourselves.

Malaga (AGP), about 30 minutes away and very well connected across Europe and to North America.

Book early. Flights, not rooms, will be the binding constraint for an eclipse in southern Spain.

The group does, even if you personally don't. It is a rural property twenty minutes from anywhere, and we will want to move around during the week. Roughly one car per apartment is about right.

Tell me your arrival times and I will try to pair people up so we are not hiring more cars than we need.

No, but send me your flight details and I will try to match arrivals so people can share a car from the airport.

The property has grounds and a gated entrance, so I expect parking is straightforward, but I do not know the capacity.

I am checking this with Lidia, the owner, and will update this answer when I hear back.

Standard Schengen rules. US, Canadian and UK passport holders do not need a visa for a short stay, but ETIAS travel authorisation is expected to be in force by 2027 — an inexpensive online application you should do well ahead of travel. Check the current requirements a few months out, as the start date has moved before.

Make sure your passport is valid for at least six months beyond your return date.

No. It is an unfenced private pool, and the estate has steps, terraces and uneven ground. Worth bearing in mind after dark.

In an emergency, call 112. It works from any phone, and English is available.

Pharmacies: the nearest are in Mijas Pueblo, about five minutes' drive. One pharmacy in the area is always on duty out of hours; the town hall's pharmacy page shows which.

Urgent care: the public health centre in Las Lagunas, Mijas Costa, has a 24-hour urgent-care service. It is about fifteen minutes away.

Hospitals: Vithas Xanit Internacional in Benalmádena, fifteen to twenty minutes away, is a private hospital with a 24-hour emergency department and English-speaking staff. The public hospital for Mijas is Hospital Costa del Sol, near Marbella, about half an hour away.

If you live outside the EU, bring travel medical insurance: private hospitals expect insurance or payment up front, and the public system charges visitors. Visitors from the EU or UK should bring their EHIC or GHIC.

Quite a lot. Mijas Pueblo is the classic white village just up the hill. Beaches are eight minutes away. Malaga and Marbella are twenty minutes in opposite directions. Granada and the Alhambra are around ninety minutes, and Ronda about the same.

With four nights before the eclipse and three after, there is real time for this.

Southern Spain will see a lot of eclipse visitors, and the coast is busy in August regardless. But we are not in the epicentre — Tarifa and Cadiz will take the worst of it.

The practical consequence is flights and rental cars, both of which you should book far earlier than feels necessary.