Day briefly turned to night in Spain yesterday, as the country witnessed its first total solar eclipse in more than a century. Swathes of the country were plunged into an eerie darkness as the spectral glow of the Sun's outer corona shimmered out from the edges of the shadowy Moon.

The spectacle drew gasps and cheers from huge crowds in Spain, just 90 minutes after it first appeared in the remote Arctic region of northern Russia.

"It's a sight I never would have imagined seeing," said Isabel Troyano, a 56-year-old homemaker, watching with her son in Tarragona, on Spain's Mediterranean coast. "I got goosebumps," she told AFP.

Alejandro Cuesta, a 30-year-old nanoscience researcher, called it "incredible... I almost burst into tears. I got chills all over my body," he said.

"It was magnificent... the most beautiful thing I've seen in my entire life."

The eclipse was the first in mainland Europe since 2006. Throughout human history, eclipses have stirred amazement, fear and reverence, as they appear to halt the normal course of nature momentarily.

The shadow, or "umbra", cast by the alignment of Sun and Moon creates a strange twilight during which temperatures drop, shadows appear at strange angles and some animals go to sleep.

Clear skies helped visibility in Spain, although there were concerns due to high temperatures and the continued risk of wildfires.

Eclipse fever had gripped Spain, with government predictions that nearly 450,000 extra tourists could bring a 347-million-euro ($400-million) boost to the economy.

"The path of totality is very narrow. It's only a couple of hundred kilometres wide," British astrophysicist and science communicator Graham Jones told AFP Tuesday from Fontanil de los Oteros in northern Spain.

"That's what's so special about Spain. The path of totality really goes across the Spanish peninsula."

We put out a call for your photos of the moment — and you delivered. Here's what you sent us.

Our favourite reader photos of the eclipse

"From my balcony as the sun set over the mountain opposite and, unexpectedly, an aircraft flew through the frame."

  • Mark Li

  • Matthew Cook

  • Louise Kitley

An atmospheric shot of the sun in full eclipse, from a balcony somewhere in Salou.

  • Paul Bishop

I took this just after maximum."

  • Pete Clark

  • Sandra Porter

  • Mariska van Daele

Before, during and after the Moon's journey across the Sun, captured in three frames.

  • Janet Kay Christian

  • Frank Nouws

Thank you to everyone who submitted photos, there were too many good ones to pick from! Keep an eye out on our socials for future chances to contribute to articles at The Local.

With additional reporting by AFP.