Spectators across Spain watched in wonder, some whipping off their protective glasses and rising to their feet in unison, as a rare total solar eclipse swept across the north of the country on Wednesday evening, plunging it into darkness.

Spain deployed a massive police contingent and set up special viewing spots across rural areas that offered the best views of the spectacle.

Viewers in Buitrago de Lozoya, a rural district north of Madrid, clapped and cheered as the sky dimmed and Baily’s beads - bright points of sunlight that shine around the edge of the moon during a total eclipse - glistened on the horizon just after 8:30 p.m. (1830 GMT), lasting barely a minute.