The Spanish football league is called La Liga. It is divided into various divisions. The top two: Primera división (First division) and Segunda división (Second division) have professional teams. The lower leagues are amateur.

The structure of Liga:

• Primera división (20 teams)
• Segunda división (22 teams)

• Segunda división B (4 groups, 20 teams each)
• Tercera división
• Regional divisions

The number of regional divisions depends on the region, in Catalonia, for example, there are five divisions under Tercera división:

• Primera catalana
• Preferente
• Primera regional
• Segunda regional
• Tercera regional

In other regions there are fewer divisions. The number of teams in each division also depends on the region: there are groups in Tercera that have 18 teams, and some others that have 20.

Liga championship rules

Each team of every division has to play with all the other teams of its division twice, once at home and the other at the opponent's stadium. This means that in Primera división the league ends after every team plays 38 matches.

Like many other leagues in continental Europe, the Primera takes a winter break once each team has played half its schedule. One unusual feature of the league is that the two halves of the season are played in the same order—that is, the order of each team's first-half fixtures is repeated in the second half of the season, with the only difference being the stadiums used.

Each victory adds 3 points to the team in the league ranking. Each drawn adds 1 point. At the end of the league, the winner is:

1. The team that has most points in the ranking.
2. If two or more teams are level on points, the winner is the team that has the best results head-to-head.
3. If there is no winner after applying the second rule, then the team with the best overall goal difference wins.

Champions by year

See also

• Football in Spain
• List of football clubs in Spain

External link

• Official web site (in Spanish)