September 2025 newsletter
It's confusing to keep track of what's going on in Girona Buddies, so here's an update.
2,000-member limit[edit]
WhatsApp communities have a limit of 2,000 members. The Girona Buddies WhatsApp community is currently at 1,321 members, and is growing by about 100 members a month. At this current pace, we'll reach 2,000 members in April 2026. We're looking at solutions to this problem. One idea is to close the largest subgroups (such as General Chat), create new ones, post a link to the new ones, and assume that only active users will re-join.
If you’d like to help discuss solutions, join the Feedback & Ideas subgroup.
Language meetups[edit]
Our most successful meetups continue to be the weekly language meetups (Catalan, English, and Spanish), which have all been meeting regularly for months now. They are now all at Essenze Coffee, where we enjoy reserved tables and drinks discounts.
- Monday, 6 PM: Spanish (thanks Keyt for organising both the Catalan and Spanish meetups every week)
- Tuesday 6:30 PM: Italian (thanks Susanna Longo for organising these)
- Wednesday 6 PM: Catalan
- Thursday 6 PM: English
These meetups not only help people practice languages but also help people make friends and integrate into Girona, and they also help build bridges between immigrants and locals.
The Girona Agenda (the official city website for events happening in Girona) is promoting the Catalan and English meetups on their website, which helps bring in new people.
The Agencia Catalana de Notícies recently filmed the Catalan meetup and interviewed some participants for the news, though it may be a few weeks before it appears in newspapers or on TV.
Monthly meetup[edit]
There was no monthly meetup in September. The last one was at the Hotel Ultonia Terrace, but sadly we can't return because the hotel owners didn't like that we were 40-50 people. Instead, we've started organising weekly Language Tables on Sundays at PdePa. A monthly meetup will return in October.
Graffiti[edit]
In the volunteering subgroup, thanks to Dan Baker, we started removing graffiti from Girona. We learned the Ajuntament does not remove any graffiti outside of Barri Vell, so it's my hope we can make a difference in the city about this.
Neurodivergent meetups[edit]
The news that matters to me most is that we've increased the number of neurodivergent meetups from one a month or two a month: one in English and the other in Catalan, both hosted at the Centre Civic Barri Vell. These are currently the only meetups for neurodivergent adults in Girona. This time last year, Girona had no meetups for autistic or ADHD adults, so as someone who is neurodivergent, being able to offer neurodivergent people these opportunities to connect is an emotional milestone for me. I hope it's only the first step in making Girona a better place to neurodivergent people. Thanks to Lluis Tarrida for organising the Catalan meetups.
Centre Civics[edit]
We can now use rooms at the Centre Civic Barri for any purpose except to make a profit, so if you have an idea for using a room there, mention it in the Feedback and Ideas group.
Finally...[edit]
Girona Buddies is more alive than ever, with a meetup almost every day, which can be seen at https://www.meetup.com/gironabuddies/events/calendar.
Thanks to all the organisers, admins, and members who have made this possible and for making this community a great place to be.
Paul
