Hotel and short-term rental prices surged across parts of Spain and Iceland ahead of the August 12, 2026 total solar eclipse, as travelers sought rooms inside the path of totality for mainland Europe’s first total solar eclipse since 1999. In Spain, El Pais previously reported sharp hotel price increases and sellouts in destinations including Soria, Zaragoza, Leon and Burgos, while Spain’s government forecast 446,700 additional tourists and €342.19 million in extra tourism spending between Aug. 10 and 16. New data from Lighthouse Intelligence showed Reykjavik hotel rates averaging $1,012 for the eclipse week in mid-July, double the year-earlier level, while short-term rentals averaged $1,172, up 178%. In Bilbao, short-term rentals averaged $1,088, up 206%, and hotel rooms averaged $315, up 35%. Santiago de Compostela, just outside the path of totality, was cheaper at $193 a night for hotels, up 13%. Rates did not move in a single direction everywhere as the event approached: the lowest available hotel prices for Aug. 12 in Reykjavik and Iceland’s wider capital region had fallen 46% and 51%, respectively, from mid-May to $805 and $793 by Aug. 10, reflecting discounting after earlier speculative pricing. Analysts at Lighthouse and AirDNA said the eclipse created a strong but concentrated tourism boost around the event rather than a lasting seasonal shift, with demand in Iceland’s rentals inside the path rising 40% from a year earlier, versus 13.2% elsewhere in the country.