Published on •Updated
“Will Elon Musk come?” The question has been echoing around the streets of Lerma for days, a picturesque village south of Burgos, in northern Spain. The arrival of SpaceX has transformed this town of just over 2,500 inhabitants, where residents, hoteliers and tourists are all looking towards the Parador, trying to work out what is happening behind its doors. The company founded by Musk booked it a year and a half ago to watch Wednesday’s total solar eclipse from there.
Musk has ultimately not shown up, but the SpaceX effect is already being felt across the town: fully booked hotels, dozens of coaches and visitors arriving from different countries have shattered Lerma’s usual calm and unleashed a level of excitement rarely seen in the town.
The cause of all this commotion is a total solar eclipse which on Wednesday will plunge some parts of Spain into darkness for nearly two minutes, an exceptional phenomenon not seen on the Iberian Peninsula for more than a century.
And SpaceX had been preparing for the event for some time. The aerospace company founded by Musk in 2002 booked the Parador in Lerma 18 months in advance to secure a prime vantage point from which to observe the phenomenon, right in the path of totality, with clear skies and little light pollution.
The hotel, a 17th-century ducal palace where Napoleon once spent the night, has closed its doors to the public these days to host a “private event”. Inside, 140 US specialists are staying, including two professors from the University of Berkeley.
Is Musk in Lerma?
The possibility that Musk might appear in person spread like wildfire through the media and social networks in recent days. The buzz grew, fuelled by reports suggesting that the billionaire himself might travel to Lerma to witness the eclipse.
In the end, the COPE radio station has confirmed that Musk is not in the town. The guests at the Parador are technicians and eclipse enthusiasts and, according to the station, there is not a single celebrity among them.
His absence, however, has not stopped the entrepreneur’s name being on everyone’s lips among locals and visitors. The mere presence of SpaceX has been enough to put this small town in the province of Burgos at the centre of attention for a few days.
Lerma, like a rocket
The denial, however, has not slowed the economic impact. Accommodation in the area has filled up with the arrival of visitors drawn by the eclipse, while numerous towns along the path of totality are experiencing an exceptional influx.
The phenomenon goes far beyond a simple anecdote. Destinations lying in the path of totality, many of them small rural municipalities, are currently experiencing an extraordinary influx of visitors.
Read the full article here
