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“Will Elon Musk come?” The question has been echoing through the streets of Lerma, a picturesque town south of Burgos in northern Spain, for days.
The arrival of SpaceX has transformed this community of more than 2,500 residents, where locals, hospitality workers and tourists are looking towards the Parador, one of Spain’s state-run heritage hotels, 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 the total solar eclipse from there this Wednesday.
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, shattering Lerma’s usual calm, sparking a level of excitement rarely seen here.
The cause of all this commotion is a total solar eclipse that will plunge parts of Spain into darkness for nearly two minutes on Wednesday, an exceptional event that has not been witnessed on the Iberian Peninsula for more than a century.
SpaceX had been planning for the occasion for months. The aerospace company, founded by Musk in 2002, booked Lerma’s Parador 18 months in advance to secure a prime vantage point from which to observe the event, 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 in recent days to host a “private event”.
Inside, 140 specialists are staying there, including two professors from Berkeley.
Is Musk in Lerma?
The possibility of Musk turning up in person spread like wildfire across traditional and social media in recent days. The hype grew, fuelled by reports suggesting the billionaire himself might travel to Lerma to witness the eclipse.
Spanish broadcaster COPE has confirmed that Musk is not in the town. Guests at the Parador are technicians and eclipse enthusiasts and, according to the Spanish broadcaster, there are no celebrities among them.
His absence, however, has not stopped the billionaire’s name being on the lips of locals and visitors.
The mere presence of SpaceX has been enough to put this small town in Burgos province at the centre of attention for a few days.