Hotel accommodation prices in several European cities have risen sharply ahead of the total solar eclipse, as hundreds of thousands of tourists travel to Iceland and Spain to see the rare astronomical phenomenon.

The total solar eclipse will be visible on Wednesday, August 12, and among the most attractive European places to observe it are Iceland and Spain, writes the Guardian.

In Reykjavík, one of the most accessible places to see total eclipse, the average price of a hotel room for the night before the event reached $793. This is 98 percent more than the same day last year, according to data from Lighthouse Intelligence.

High demand has also been registered in Spain, where authorities expect around 460,000 foreign tourists who will travel mainly for the eclipse.

The price increase is particularly pronounced in A Coruña in the north of the country, where the average room price has increased by 135 percent compared to last year, to 451 dollars.

Prices in Majorca have risen by 24 percent to an average of $448, while hotel accommodation in Santiago de Compostela is 34 percent more expensive, and in Bilbao by 67 percent.

Accommodation in smaller towns and villages along the path of the total eclipse have been booked months in advance, and there have been cases of tourists from the United States arranging home exchanges with residents of the Spanish region of Castilla. y León.

The large influx of visitors is also a challenge for Spanish authorities due to the high risk of forest fires.

Police are expecting around 1.5 million additional car journeys on Wednesday, and due to extremely dry weather conditions, authorities are warning that even the smallest spark could start a fire.

Spain will deploy around 35,000 police and other security personnel to helped. Barbecues and fireworks are prohibited, as is parking near dry vegetation, while the Valencia region has closed natural parks and prohibited movement on certain rural paths. /tesheshi.com/

Source: prizrenpost