La Liga, also known as Spain’s First Division, is the top male category in Spain’s football league system. It is the premier club competition in the country, and the current champion is FC Barcelona.
Since 1984, La Liga has been organized by the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (LFP), succeeding the Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF). The league has been contested since the 1928-29 season and has only been interrupted twice: during the Spanish Civil War (between 1936 and 1939) and in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Along with the Segunda División, La Liga is one of the two professional categories in Spain, both under the auspices of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, while other divisions depend on the RFEF and their corresponding regional federations.
Throughout its history, only nine clubs have been crowned champions of the Primera División. The most decorated is Real Madrid CF, with 35 titles, followed by FC Barcelona (27), Club Atlético de Madrid (11), Athlétic Club (8), Valencia CF (6), Real Sociedad de Fútbol (2), and Real Betis Balompié, Sevilla FC and Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña, each with a single title.
The team that accumulates the most points at the end of the season is declared the league champion and automatically qualifies for the group stage of the next UEFA Champions League. The runner-up, third, and fourth-placed teams also secure Champions League spots. The fifth-placed team qualifies for the UEFA Europa League play-offs, while the sixth-placed team enters the third qualifying round of the same competition. If the Copa del Rey winner is among the top six, the seventh-placed team earns a spot in the Europa League’s third preliminary round. Additionally, the league champion and runner-up compete in the Supercopa de España, facing the Copa del Rey finalist from the same season.
The bottom tree teams are relegated to the Segunda Division. From there, the top two finishers and a third team determined through a playoff system ascend to La Liga, replacing the relegated teams. The third promotion spot from the Segunda Division is decided by a final match between the winner of the playoff between the third and sixth best-placed teams and the winner of the playoff between the third and sixth best-placed teams and the winner of the playoff between the fourth and fifth best-placed teams. These play offs are played with the first leg at the lower-ranked team’s home ground during the regular season.