In observance of Earth Day, we will meet at the Barceloneta beach to pick up trash and leave our beautiful seaside city a bit spiffier. Be sure to wear your DA or VFA sportswear, if you have any. After a couple of hours of cleanup, we will gather at a safe distance to enjoy a picnic lunch. Our special guest will be Daniel James, newly elected Chair of DA Spain and eco-warrier. 

Bring your own gloves and a picnic lunch - we will supply the trash bags. Gathering point is on the Barceloneta beach in front of the Opium restaurant, on the beach side. 

Given that restrictions on gatherings are in flux, please keep an eye on this page, where we will post any updates to the plan. 

2021 New Leader Orientation (Session 2)

(photo from the 2019 EMEA Regional Meeting in Athens)

Saturday, 08 May 2021, 12:00-3:00 PM EDT (check your local time HERE)

Newly-elected leaders are invited to attend a New Leader Orientation session, facilitated by the Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East, and Africa regional teams.  Current leaders and volunteers are also welcome to join as a refresher, as are those who are candidates for local office where elections have not yet taken place.

During this three-hour orientation, we will cover the following Democrats Abroad basics:

• Our purpose, our organizational structure, and how we conduct business (45 minutes)
• Our IT Team and key resources (30 minutes)
• Our Comms Team and how we share our messages (20 minutes)
• Our other teams and committees that support leaders and Country Committees (40 minutes)
• Upcoming and regular regional and global meetings (20 minutes)

There will also be a ten-minute break, along with Q&A opportunities.

Please RSVP for the WebEx link.

A second New Leader orientation session, covering the same topics, will also be held at an AP/EMEA-friendly time on Saturday, 24 April between 3:00-6:00 AM EDT.  To register for that session, please visit this event page to RSVP.

Elections for new 2021–2023 DA-Barcelona officers are coming up fast, as the current terms of office are drawing to a close. This is your chance to participate in your local chapter of Democrats Abroad! 

On May 15, 2021, our chapter will hold its bi-annual elections as part of its Annual General Meeting. The chapter has been doing great work in the crucial 2020 pre- and post-presidential election period. It’s important to keep this momentum going and gear up for the equally crucial midterms in 2022, as well as to stay on top of the multiple voting-rights challenges that have the potential to affect our ability to vote from abroad, among other vital issues.

We urge you to participate as a voter. And, if you would like to become even more active in the chapter, one good way is to run for office, by nominating yourself, or to nominate someone you think would be a good fit in one of the roles.

Offices: Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary.

Officers serve a two-year term and can hold the same office for a maximum of two consecutive terms.

The nomination form can be found here. Deadline for submitting nominations in advance: April 28 at 10:00 pm. 

Not sure what's involved and if it's for you? There will be an orientation Zoom meeting on Tuesday, April 13. Past and current officeholders will be on hand to provide more information and answer questions about what the different roles involve in terms of responsibilities, possibilities and time commitments.

To join: 
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88594764690?pwd=amZ2RWExUjhJdmhpZzlhV1dGZ3Azdz09

Meeting ID: 885 9476 4690

Passcode: BlueWave

One tap mobile

+34843685025,,88594764690#,,,,*80618369# Spain

Are you interested in advocating for your home state or a state you want to support? Do you want to help improve voting rights for citizens abroad and back home? Would you like to build strong connections to local organizers? Are you concerned about what's going on in state legislatures? 

Then come out and meet our State Outreach Teams and see how you can get involved! This is open to anyone interested, not just Germany members. We hope that the states will be able to build a global community or activists!

Several states already have teams forming - we will be introducing initiatives for voters abroad from Texas, Arizona, Georgia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and hope to find volunteers willing to start up groups for other states. We'll share strategies and information on how to help keep or turn these states blue and what you can do from abroad. There are many different ways to get involved!

Please RSVP for the Zoom link! We look forward to seeing you on Sunday, April 25th at 3pm!

If you have any questions or are interested in starting or contributing to a group from your voting state, get in touch with the DAG GOTV Coordinator, Teresa Ritterhoff at [email protected]

Save the date! 

On May 15th, Democrats Abroad Barcelona will hold our formal Annual General Meeting. During this business meeting, we will hear from current leaders about the activities of the past year and get a report on our current finances. The results of the biannual election of new leaders will be announced. 

More details to follow. 

Democrats Abroad Spain (DAS) is holding Executive Committee (excom) elections for the 2021-2023 term and we need your vote! 

Our organization depends on the participation of the members as we renew our group for the continuing struggle for a better USA and a better world through democratic political engagement. Please help select the new Democrats Abroad Spain leadership committee of Chairperson, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Counsel, and 4 Voting Representatives.

This will be the first time we will organize our DAS chapter elections purely online. Ballot emails (actually an email with a link to an online voting site) were sent out on March 5, 2021. If you think that you did not receive this email, please follow the instructions below.

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The Kamala Inauguration Kocktail is a perfect blend of carefully selected ingredients that will ease the transition into a new administration.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 1, 2020

PARA DISTRIBUCIÓN INMEDIATA. 1 de noviembre de 2020

BARCELONA – 26/10/2020

Barcelona – 26/10/2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [26 OCT. 2020]

WHEN: November 03, 2020 at 8:30 PM - 2:00 AM (CET)

WHERE: Zoom links sent to those who RSVP here.

There are many ways to follow what transpires at the polls on the evening of November 3rd, but we think our virtual Election Night Party is one of the best. Over 20 whipsmart people - some local, some not - signed up to speak, sing, and lead sparkling conversations. Democrats Abroad Barcelona is incredibly grateful for their contributions and thrilled to share who they are, what they do, and what you can expect from them during the party.

Click below to receive periodic updates from the Taxation Task Force on our tax advocacy work.  We will message you when there are important updates and developments to report.

Democrats Abroad will hold its Global Presidential Primary the first week of March, with two opportunities to vote in person in Barcelona on Tuesday, March 3rd, and Saturday, March 7th. These events will be held at ESERP business school (Tuesday, 4:00 to 9:30 p.m.) and Restaurante El Foro (Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.).

**We are in need of volunteers for the local primary events**

These are the kinds of tasks volunteers will be doing on the in-person voting days:

• Helping set up, decorate and open the voting center

• Greeting and directing voters to where they need to go based on their needs

• Helping voters with same-day voter registration in their U.S. state if necessary

• Helping voters to join Democrats Abroad to be eligible to vote in the primary if necessary

• Verifying voter eligibility

• Handing out ballots and recording who has voted

• Assisting voters in filling out their ballots and providing any information they need

• Selling merchandise to raise money to cover chapter expenses (for example, ballot printing, courier charges for sending ballots to DA Europe)

• Watching children in the kids’ area while their parents are voting

• Running errands (for example, going to the copy shop if we run out of printed ballots)

• Counting and scanning ballots after voting is finished

• Preparing ballot packages for sending to Prague

• Closing the voting center

Voting hours on the two days will be divided into shifts of approximately three hours.

Tuesday, March 3: 3:00 - 6:30 / 6:00 - 9:30*
*after 9:30, ballot counting and scanning starts
We have around 10 shifts to cover

Saturday, March 7: 9:00 - 12:30 / 12:00 - 3:30 / 3:00 - 6:30 / 6:00 - 8:00*
*after 8:00 ballot counting and scanning starts
We have around 30 shifts to cover

If you want to help with this important work, send an email to [email protected], indicating the days and hours you are available so that we can put you on the volunteer list and send you further information. Volunteers will receive training. As a bonus, it’s a great way to learn how elections work.

Non-citizens can also serve as volunteers for roles that do not involve contact with ballots or voter data.

Additionally, in the lead-up to this year’s elections, Democrats Abroad needs volunteers to do phonebanking, i.e. calling fellow DA SPain members and making sure they have the information they need to vote in this year’s elections. Phonebanking is something you can do at home on your computer when it is convenient for you. Your only expense is your volunteer time. You can sit down at your computer, sign in to the tool (Call Hub) and start making calls, using the script provided. If you are interested in helping out in this way, go to www.democratsabroad.org, sign in with your email address and password, then click on TAKE ACTION and choose the first option: Phonebank. Be sure to let us know you’re participating in this campaign so we can say “thank you!”

At the risk of sounding cliche, the 2020 general election is indeed going to be the most consequential election of our lifetimes. Donald Trump, through his ignorance, narcissism, greed and corruption, – and governing the country in the style of a mafia Don – has done irreparable damage to the U.S. and the world in less than 4 years. We have just over 10 months to set things right again.

Here in Barcelona – permanent or semi-permanent home to an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 U.S. expats, and temporary home to a steady stream of interns and college students studying abroad – your local DA chapter is doing its part to unTrump the world. Since last summer, we have hosted a series of events to watch seven Democratic presidential primary debates together. The most recent was held January 15^th at the Eroica Caffè and had the best attendance yet. We are not sure if that’s because the race is heating up, due to excitement and curiosity about the new venue, or because Trump has now been impeached, but in any case, about 35 people showed up to watch the debate. Many stayed afterward to hear from Iowa native Charles Friedman, who explained how the caucus system works in that state, as well as his thoughts about what might happen next summer if there is a brokered convention [if you are interested in receiving one of his handouts, send an email to [email protected]]. Several more debates will be held in the months ahead, so watch this space for announcements.

Chapter members have also been busy this month visiting college study-abroad programs in Barcelona and registering students to vote while they are here. So far, we have spoken with students from Arcadia, Boston College and University of Chicago. There are dozens of these programs located in Barcelona and we need volunteers to help reach out to students. If you are available on a regular or sporadic basis, please let us know.

Coming up next, we will join Barcelona en Comú and Women’s March Barcelona in a panel discussion following a screening of the documentary film Knock Down the House, the inspirational story of four progressive young women (including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) who ran for Congress in 2018. Please join us for this exciting opportunity on Thursday, January 23 beginning at 6:30 p.m.

On February 18^th, Democrats Abroad members will get an email invitation to participate in the Global Presidential Primary to choose Democrats Abroad delegates to the National Convention. This email will include all the information you need to vote online. However, if you live in or near Barcelona or are able to travel there, we will be holding two separate events for in-person voting on Tuesday, March 3 (Super Tuesday) and Saturday, March 9. Watch for further info in your email, this page, and on social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).