Football
LaLiga history
How the competition came to look the way it does.
Twenty clubs, thirty-eight matchdays
Spanish football's national league was built on top of strong regional competitions, and several of those older rivalries still shape the calendar.
The division has long been defined by the gap between its largest clubs and the rest, a gap rooted as much in membership and ownership structures as in results.
Tie-break rules, television deals and the second division's playoff have all been revised repeatedly, which is why the competition's shape has changed more than its reputation suggests.
Season-by-season champions, records and historical tables need a licensed historical data source. Until we have one, this page carries written history only.