8 Beautiful Villas in Menorca, the Baleariac's Quiet Hideout
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Forbes
8 hours ago
- Forbes
Seven Unique Tours For 2027's Six-Minute Total Solar Eclipse
What will happen on Aug. 2, 2025? Nothing — a viral story online saying the 'world will go dark' for six minutes, and that it's a 'sight you won't see again for 100 years,' is false. However, like all online nonsense, there's a grain of truth in it. What will happen on Aug. 2, 2027 — two years from today — is the longest total solar eclipse on land this century. It will plunge southern Spain, North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula into totality for six minutes and is, therefore, being touted as the 'eclipse of the century.' In truth, how long totality lasts during a total solar eclipse not only varies according to exactly where you are within the narrow path of totality (in this case, 160 miles/275 kilometers wide), but where you are along it, too. After all, it stretches for 9,462 miles (15,227 kilometers) across the globe. Where To Experience The 2027 Total Solar Eclipse Since the moon's shadow is projected onto the sphere of Earth, one location will be closest to the moon — and, therefore, have its shadow move across it at its slowest. That location on Aug. 2, 2027, is close to Luxor, Egypt — home to the Valley of the Kings and the temples of Karnak, Luxor and Hatshepsut — where totality will last for six minutes and 20 seconds. Do eclipse chasers need to go to Luxor? If they want to boast about being in totality for the longest this century, yes. If that's not a concern, there are trips to all kinds of other places along the path — all with a five minutes or more of totality — from Spain, Morocco and Algeria to Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and even Somalia at the Horn of Africa. Here's a sample of some of the most unusual trips to see the 2027 total solar eclipse: M'Sila Forest, Algeria If you're after an exciting and unusual adventure, Untamed Borders (which runs trips to some of the most challenging and remote countries in the world) is offering a seven-day trip to Algeria to coincide with the eclipse. Beginning in the Kasbah of Algiers, the trip will travel west along the Mediterranean coastline to see Roman remains at Tipaza and Cherchell, taking in totality for five minutes 3 seconds at M'Sila Forest just south of the city of Oran. After a visit to see Tlemcen's Moorish architecture, the adventure comes to an end in Algiers. Aten City, Egypt Akhenaten, a pharaoh in ancient Egypt's 18th Dynasty, was — like eclispe chasers — something of a sun-worshipper. The father of Tutankhamun, he promoted worship of the sun's disk, Aten, and built a city called Aten close to Luxor. This lost golden city was discovered in 2021, and Archaeological Paths is running a tour to experience the eclipse in this fitting location. Famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, Aten City's discoverer, is the tour guide. Totality will last 6 minutes and 20 seconds. Red Sea, Egypt This seven-day tour from AstroTrails, beginning Jul. 30, swerves Luxor for the eclipse in favor of the southern part of Egypt's Red Sea coast. Beginning and ending in Cairo, it's largely based at the Wadi Lahmy Azur Resort, where totality will last for 6 minutes 13 seconds (only seven seconds less than Luxor). Expect awesome stargazing, opportunities, too. The Horn Of Africa, Puntland (Somalia) Puntland — an autonomous region in northeastern Somalia on the Horn of Africa — is not where most eclipse chasers will be heading. In fact, Puntland is not internationally recognized as an independent country. Untamed Borders is running a seven-day eclipse tour beginning in Bosaso, taking in Xaafun on the Indian Ocean Coast to experience a five-minute and 25-second totality at the easternmost point of continental Africa. The tour of the Horn of Africa then continues to beaches and historic fishing villages, visiting an Italian colonial lighthouse at the tip of the Horn. Mediterranean Sea, Tunisia The easiest way to see a total solar eclipse is often by cruise ship — partly because most paths of totality occur mainly over the ocean. That's true for the 2027 eclipse, yet there are plenty of opportunities for cruises because the path crosses the Mediterranean Sea. However, many cruise ships will be close to Spain and in the sometimes cloudy Straits of Gibraltar. Holland America's 14-day round-trip cruise from Athens, Greece via stops in Tunisia, Malta and Italy will observe the eclipse off Tunisia, where clear skies are almost guaranteed — and totality will last around five minutes and 45 seconds. It also includes a visit to the Royal Malta Observatory. Sfax, Tunisia Cooler and less prone to dust storms, Tunisia has some advantages over Egypt. This trip from TravelQuest aims for a laid-back eclipse experience, traveling from the capital, Tunis, to explore ancient Carthage, the Great Mosque of Kairouan, artisans' markets and the Douz — not forgetting Tozeur, which doubled as Tatooine in Star Wars. The eclipse will be experienced at a specially selected site in or near Sfax on the coast, where totality will last for five minutes and 42 seconds. Nile Cruise, Egypt Perhaps the default way to experience this eclipse — and its maximum totality — is to be on the Nile in Luxor. There are myriad options, all selling out very quickly. One example comes from Smithsonian Journeys, whose itinerary includes tours to the ancient temples of Luxor, with talks on board ship from Smithsonian Journeys Experts and Egyptologists. Not a unique tour, but it promises a very special experience. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
City streets, tech towers and electric docks: Here's how Biscay is adapting to climate change
At almost 7pm in Bilbao, the heat is still so strong that a group of tourists have huddled in the shadow cast by Maman's sac of eggs. The nine-metre-tall spider sculpture stands in an exposed stretch of ground outside the Guggenheim Museum. Elsewhere, the city offers plenty of shelter for its residents and visitors during this late June heatwave. Plane trees make a cool tunnel of the Gran Vía, where screens announce the time and temperature; 25°C at 9pm stops me in my tracks. There are 131 'climate shelters' - air-conditioned buildings and green spaces where people can keep cool - publicised this year by an outreach team holding white parasols in addition to the usual channels. Temporary fountains have been set up in the busiest areas of the city. I'm here to find out what goes on behind the scenes to make Bilbao and the Biscay province of the Basque Country an innovator in climate adaptation; a place that does things a little differently from the rest of Spain and Europe. Related France's deadly 2003 heatwave left a mark on the nation: Now their heatwave planning is world-class From static to dynamic urban planning Tecnalia, the largest applied research centre in Spain, resides in a leafy science park above 'el bocho' (the hole) as Bilbao is known, because of its position in the dip of the mountains. Within this sleek R&D hub, the Energy, Climate and Urban Transition unit is busy applying advanced technology to some of the knottiest nodes in climate action. Patricia Molina oversees the City, Territory and Environment pillar within this unit. An urban planner by training, her practice has evolved with technological breakthroughs - bridging economic, social and other silos, and knitting together different scales to produce a dynamic analysis of the city. 'If you can see almost life on one hand and on the other hand you can make scenarios and anticipate those scenarios and take the measures in advance, I think this is going to completely change the urban planning system,' she says. Her team can map cities in extraordinary detail. Including, for example, whether an apartment block has an elevator or air conditioning. Combined with demographic stats, it helps them to see where residents are most vulnerable during extreme heat. Given Bilbao's vulnerability to river flooding, they have also mapped the city's sewage system and road network, including the number of vehicles and access to alternative routes if a flood strikes. And with digital twins - virtual replicas of cities - they can test the efficacy of nature-based solutions, even down to which tree species will have the fastest growth rate under climate change. Climate proofing, explains Efren Feliu Torres, head of the climate change adaptation programme, is a crucial concept within their modelling. It means taking into account the fact that the climate is dynamic and will alter the outcome of adaptation measures. 'The intention is improving decision-making. That is the ultimate objective,' he says. Tecnalia's analysis feeds into mid- to long-term planning for authorities, helping them to see where investment is most needed and impactful. 'When we show the work we are doing to some municipalities in the south of Spain, they are just amazed because apparently we don't have such a huge problem with heat here, but we are already planning for it,' says Molina. Related Why was Valencia flooding so deadly, did warning texts come too late and what's the climate link? A unique ecosystem of public and private partnerships Tecnalia is roughly half-and-half supported by private and public funding - a collaborative effort fostered by the regional government. Another embodiment of this approach is the B Accelerator Tower (BAT), a public-private centre for entrepreneurship housed in Bilbao's second-tallest building. The tallest is the Iberdrola Tower, the headquarters of the Spanish energy company, which dominates the skyline. BAT's 200 members include corporate powerhouses like Iberdrola and Triodos Bank, the Basque region's main institutions, and dozens of start-ups. Global consulting firm PwC operates as a 'matchmaker' here, and says it has made 600 matches between entities big and small. One such start-up is Woza Labs, which is developing deep-tech foundations to solve climate and sustainability challenges. The Bilbao-headquartered company has partnered with Iberdrola to smarten its grid management, identifying where power lines are most at risk in the short term, and where new ones should be built to maximise their resilience. It does this by integrating disparate datasets - including geospatial intelligence and data from the energy company about its facilities and past incidents - into one predictive platform. 'What we're seeing today is that companies, governments, public institutions, they are not ready for measuring climate [...] their systems are not ready to work in a more volatile environment,' says CEO and co-founder Sebastián Priolo. With climate change causing fiercer storms, heatwaves and wildfires, 'that volatility needs to be input in the systems.' One of the things that wooed Woza's founders to Bilbao from London is what Priolo calls 'the asymmetry between digitalisation and industry.' With a past rooted in heavy industry and an ongoing industrial presence, it's a seller's market for companies offering digital services. The Bizkaian government has created a supportive environment for start-ups, he adds. Exercising its tax autonomy, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia has incentives to encourage innovation and decarbonisation. The corporate tax deduction for investments in clean technologies has recently been increased to 35 per cent, for example. 'We want to be there among the main European countries concerning innovation,' Ainara Basurko Urkiri, deputy of economic promotion in the Bizkaia Government, tells Euronews Green. 'We need public and private partnerships,' she emphasises. 'If we go hand-in-hand together, we will move forward faster.' Related 'We don't need a disaster to justify resilience': Climate projects can bring big economic benefits Chasing greener horizons at Bilbao Port Bilbao's changing narrative is nowhere better illustrated than at its port, Spain's fourth busiest. This, says Andima Ormaetxe, director of operations, commercial, logistics and strategy, is the port of the Atlantic. It is a gateway for the rest of Europe and America, and its history is also that of Bilbao, which was granted city status and control of maritime traffic entering its estuary in 1300. Iron ore had long been mined from the surrounding hills, furnishing the armouries of Spanish kings. But extraction became big business in the nineteenth century, spearheaded by British industrialists. The meandering Nervión River was straightened en route to the Old Town docks (15 km upstream), which were eventually abandoned altogether as the superpuerto on the bay grew. The Guggenheim Museum was built on a derelict dock district. Now, hemmed in by those hills, there is no more room for Bilbao Port to expand. 'So our generation is the generation in which we have to make the port more effective and efficient with the space that we've got,' says Ormaetxe. 'It's clear that decarbonisation is going to be a big opportunity,' he adds. The port has invested millions in electrifying its docks; a bank of onshore wind turbines, wave farms and solar panels are part of its plan to be self-sufficient and create an Onshore Power Supply (OPS). In the chicken and egg game of working with shipping companies - which say they cannot transition without the infrastructure - Bilbao Port is aiming to make green electricity the cheap option, and raise ambitions around Europe. It is also collaborating with the industrial sites at its heels, affording them the space to develop green hydrogen, which is a major part of the region's plans. Precisely because Biscay was a major cog in the industrial revolution, it is now busy building a greener future - working with what it's got, to paraphrase Ormaetxe. The author was a guest of the Bizkaia government in Bilbao.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Live the Belle Époque dream by travelling through Spain aboard this 1930s luxury train
Sitting on silk sofas, surrounded by mirrors and lacquered wood panelled walls, passengers on Spain's Al Ándalus train are abuzz as the carriages glide out of Aranjuez station. The glamorous hotel on wheels was one of the country's first luxury trains when it began operating in 1985. The wagons were originally bought from the British royal family. Now run by state-owned rail company Renfe, passengers can journey sedately around the Andalusia region in sumptuous Belle Époque style, sleeping and dining in the refurbished carriages from the 1920s and 30s. And starting in 2026, the itinerary will include new stops, beginning and ending in the Spanish capital. Travel from Madrid to Seville on a luxury historic train For the 2026 season, the Al Ándalus train will run between April and October with trips of seven days and six nights. You can choose to follow the itinerary in either direction, from Madrid to Seville or vice versa. During the dreamy journey, passengers stop at some of Spain's most magnificent cities and storied attractions. In the La Mancha region, there is a visit to an artisanal cheese factory and a wine cellar, while in Jerez de la Frontera, guests attend the show a famous equestrian ballet set to Spanish music. In Aranjuez, there is a visit to the Royal Palace and its gardens, while in Córdoba, passengers take a tour of the extraordinary Mosque-Cathedral. Throughout the trip, travellers stop at a total of 10 destinations, including five world heritage sites. A luxury coach accompanies the train along the entire route to facilitate excursions, and a multilingual guide is present throughout the journey. Sleep in 1930s carriages on board the Al Ándalus train The experience on board is a fabulous time-warp. The suites and rooms are inside carriages that were built in France at the beginning of the last century to take the members of the British monarchy between Calais and the Côte d'Azur. There are two accommodation categories to choose from - a Deluxe Suite or a Grand Class Room - both of which are clad in decorated veneer panels and feature en-suites. There are also four lounge cars dating from 1928 and 1930, which dazzle with scarlet velvet upholstery and soft gilded lighting. In the restaurant, dishes exalt Spanish ingredients like olive oil, sherry wine, and Jabugo Iberian ham. Live music and a gala dinner Of course, this kind of opulence doesn't come cheap. The cost per person for two sharing a Deluxe Suite is €7,900, while for a Grand Class room, it is €6,600. While it's a hefty sum, it does include admission to all scheduled visits and all breakfasts, lunches and dinners, whether served onboard or in select local restaurants. Related Europe's former railway stations have become the darling of the luxury hotel scene Around the world by luxury train: This 59-day adventure passes through 12 countries It also covers on-board activities like live music and performances, parties in the bar, and the end-of-trip gala dinner. Passengers receive a welcome drink and snack, unlimited water, and a toilet bag with toiletries and slippers. Those staying in a Deluxe Suite can also enjoy all non-alcoholic beverages in the minibar free of charge, a crew service to pack and unpack bags and sort clothes, and the opening and closing of the bed upon request. Solve the daily Crossword
