Hundreds of thousands of tourists are travelling to European locations offering views of the continent's first total solar eclipse in a century, driving substantial accommodation demand. Reykjavik, Iceland has experienced the most dramatic price increases, with hotel rooms charging roughly double their typical rates for Wednesday. Spain is preparing for significant tourism, with authorities projecting over 460,000 international visitors, though price increases vary considerably by location and expected eclipse visibility.

The anticipated tourism surge has raised safety concerns in Spain, where severe drought conditions have created elevated wildfire risk. Authorities are deploying 35,000 police officers and imposing fire-prevention restrictions, including bans on parking near dry vegetation and open burning. Spain's fire situation adds urgency to these measures, with approximately 200,000 hectares already burned this year—roughly six times the damage recorded by the same point in the previous year.