None announced so far: we haven’t found any free giveaway of glasses for Monday 2 August 2027, whether from the government, from ONCE (Spain’s national organisation of blind people) or from any town council. Last summer there was one, and a big one: the Spanish government and ONCE announced a free giveaway of two million glasses, and the Generalitat (Catalonia’s regional government) and town councils such as Madrid, Pamplona and León handed out their own. If a giveaway does come, those glasses are checked the same way as bought ones, because you’ll be wearing them all morning: only in the 105 towns in the path of totality are there a few seconds without a filter, around the maximum, which comes between 10:46 and 10:51 Spanish time (CEST, UTC+2).
What was handed out last summer
On 27 July, the Spanish government and the ONCE Social Group announced a free giveaway of two million glasses. ONCE supplied them, “on cardboard”. This was the planned distribution, alongside that of other public bodies:
| Who | How many | How | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ONCE | 1,700,000 | Through its lottery ticket sellers, “especially” from 3 August, with “a limited batch of units” each | Trío de Eclipses, ONCE |
| Ministry of Science, through FECYT (the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology) | 300,000 | To visitors to research centres, science museums and other public bodies | Trío de Eclipses |
| Generalitat de Catalunya | 150,000 | At 23 viewing points in 18 municipalities | Barcelona Secreta |
| Pamplona town council | 7,000 | Mainly to vulnerable people, with medical conditions or financial needs, through the Civivox network and social services | Pamplona town council |
| León town council | 400 in the first round | They ran out and it announced another round | Diario de León |
| Madrid city council | — | At the Planetarium, city museums, the Imprenta Municipal, Condeduque and the city libraries | Time Out |
According to EFE, the Spanish news agency, several public bodies also bought glasses from the same distributor: the government of Navarre, more than 100,000; the provincial council of Castellón, 25,000; and Burgos town council, 10,000. In León the queues started before opening time and the 400 ran out on the first morning; on the eve of the eclipse, the newspaper El Español reported that many distribution points had run out of stock.
And for 2027?
The only thing published since then is a royal decree from October that regulates a grant to the ONCE Foundation “for collaboration in outreach and eye-protection activities during the Trío de Eclipses”, the official name for the three eclipses seen from Spain between last summer and January 2028. It sounds like glasses for the coming eclipses, but the text of the decree doesn’t mention glasses, and the activities it funds are those of the year of last summer’s eclipse, from January to December. The lottery tickets that ONCE announced for 2 August 2027 and 26 January 2028 are just that, lottery tickets: they don’t come with glasses.
Last summer the channels were ONCE’s sellers, the science museums and centres, and the town councils: if there’s another giveaway, those are the first places to look.
Free doesn’t mean checked
Free glasses are checked just like bought ones: the EN ISO 12312-2 standard, the CE marking and the manufacturer’s name, on the glasses, their packaging or their instructions. Last summer, Pamplona town council stated which standard its glasses met, and ONCE described its own as “certified for viewing the Trío de Eclipses”. If you don’t know where a pair you’ve been given comes from, ask for those details and see our guide to certified glasses.
Always check them against the light before using them: if the filter is scratched, torn, bent or coming loose, don’t use them. The same goes if you kept last summer’s: do eclipse glasses expire? (in Spanish). And if you have doubts about a model, look at the list of fake and recalled eclipse glasses.
If you’re a town council, a business or a shop
If you’re planning a giveaway, there are ideas in what Spanish town councils should prepare for the eclipse. On our page for businesses (in Spanish) we make merch with the town’s logo and name, and the widget with your town’s time is free for your website. Shops in the path can hand glasses over to their neighbours as a pickup point.
On Order your glasses you can ask for ours: cardboard, with the EN ISO 12312-2 certificate, along with the phone filter and packs for groups. We reply with the price and the delivery time.
Sources: Trío de Eclipses, Ministry of Science — the government and ONCE giveaway (in Spanish: two million, 1,700,000 through ONCE’s sellers from 3 August and 300,000 through FECYT; the 2027 and 2028 lottery tickets); ONCE — the free glasses giveaway (in Spanish: on cardboard, for the Trío de Eclipses; each seller’s limited batch); Barcelona Secreta — free glasses in Catalonia (in Spanish: the Generalitat’s 150,000); Pamplona town council — 7,000 glasses for the eclipse (who they were for, where, and their standard); Diario de León — the new round of glasses in León (in Spanish: 400, all gone, queues and another round); Time Out Madrid — guide to the eclipse in Madrid (in Spanish: where Madrid city council gave out glasses); EFE, in Valencia Plaza — demand for approved glasses (in Spanish: Navarre, Castellón and Burgos); El Español — where to buy glasses at the last minute (in Spanish: distribution points with no stock left); La Administración al Día (INAP) — the royal decree on the grant to the ONCE Foundation (in Spanish: its purpose, which doesn’t mention glasses, and the January to December period); totality times: eclipseando data (skyfield engine + DE440s).
If you would like something to keep from the eclipse, the shop prints T-shirts, mugs and posters with the name of your town, the time of its maximum and its seconds of totality. See the merchandise →
Remember: never look at the Sun without proper eye protection (filters made to EN ISO 12312-2). The official reference for safe viewing in Spain is the IGN (in Spanish): eclipses.ign.es.