Spain's top division, LaLiga EA Sports, runs 20 clubs across a 38 game season from August to May. For 2026/27, seventeen clubs carried over from last season and three came up from the second tier: Racing Santander and Deportivo La Coruña as automatic promotions, and Málaga CF through the play-off final, which they won 2-1 away at Almería on 20 June 2026.
Here is the full list, grouped by where you would actually go to watch them.
Madrid region (4 clubs)
- Real Madrid, Santiago Bernabéu
- Atlético Madrid, Riyadh Air Metropolitano
- Rayo Vallecano, Vallecas, in the working-class Puente de Vallecas district
- Getafe, in a commuter town roughly half an hour south of the centre
Catalonia (2 clubs)
- FC Barcelona, Spotify Camp Nou in Les Corts
- RCD Espanyol, based in Cornellà de Llobregat just outside the city limits
Valencian Community (3 clubs)
- Valencia CF, Mestalla
- Levante UD, also in Valencia city, roughly a 40 minute walk from Mestalla
- Elche CF, in Alicante province
Andalusia (3 clubs)
- Sevilla FC, Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán
- Real Betis, also in Seville
- Málaga CF, La Rosaleda, back in the top flight for the first time since 2018
Basque Country and Navarre (3 clubs)
- Athletic Club, San Mamés in Bilbao
- Real Sociedad, Anoeta in San Sebastián
- Osasuna, El Sadar in Pamplona
- Deportivo Alavés, Mendizorroza in Vitoria-Gasteiz
Galicia and the north coast (3 clubs)
- Celta Vigo, Balaídos
- Deportivo La Coruña, Riazor, back after eight years away
- Racing Santander, El Sardinero, back after fourteen
Elsewhere
- Villarreal CF, in a town of around 50,000 people in Castellón province, which remains one of the more remarkable facts in European football
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Who is actually good right now?
Barcelona won the 2025/26 title, their 29th, sealing it with three games to spare after beating Real Madrid 2-0. Real Madrid finished runners-up, with Kylian Mbappé top scorer on 25 goals.
Five Spanish clubs went into the Champions League from that season: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Villarreal, Atlético Madrid and Real Betis. Real Sociedad qualified for the Europa League as Copa del Rey winners, with Celta Vigo alongside them, and Getafe took a Conference League place.
The short version for a newcomer: Barcelona and Real Madrid are the two clubs the world watches, Atlético is the consistent third force, and Villarreal, Betis, Athletic and Real Sociedad make up a genuinely competitive European chasing pack.
If you are moving to Spain to study, this matters more than you think
Football in Spain is not a weekend hobby bolted onto normal life. It is a large part of how cities organise their social calendar, and it is one of the fastest ways to make local friends when your Spanish is still bad.
A few practical points if you are heading over.
Student tickets exist, and they are not always advertised in English. Most clubs run a carnet joven or under-25 discount, and many university sports offices have block allocations. Ask the international student office in your first week, not in March.
The big two are the hardest to get into. Bernabéu and Camp Nou tickets for a league game sell into the hundreds of euros on resale. Rayo Vallecano, Getafe, Espanyol, Osasuna and Celta are all far cheaper and, honestly, better atmospheres for a first match.
Choose your city partly on this. If you are picking between offers, Seville with two derby clubs, Bilbao with San Mamés, and Valencia with two teams in the city are all very different environments from a university town with no top-flight side.
Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville also happen to be Spain's four biggest student cities. If you are weighing them up, our Spain student accommodation listings let you filter by university and see what rent actually looks like in each.
Quick city guide for students who care about football
Madrid. Four clubs, so there is a match most weekends within a metro ride. Rent is the highest in Spain and the city is enormous, so pick your neighbourhood carefully relative to your campus.
Barcelona. Camp Nou is the draw, though Espanyol in Cornellà is where you will actually get a ticket. High rent, huge international student population, and the language question of Catalan alongside Spanish.
Seville. The Sevilla and Betis derby is one of the most intense in Europe. Cheaper than Madrid or Barcelona, and the city itself is compact enough to live without a long commute.
Bilbao and San Sebastián. Smaller, expensive by northern Spanish standards, and both have clubs with unusually strong local identity. Athletic Club still fields only players from the Basque Country or its youth system.
Valencia. Two clubs, a beach, and rent noticeably below Madrid and Barcelona. It has become one of the more popular destinations for international students in the last few years.
Before you commit to a city, check what your degree actually requires. Some Spanish universities teach entirely in Spanish even on programmes marketed to international students. Our university guides list campus locations and language requirements so you are not surprised in week one.
How the league is structured
Worth understanding if you are following your first Spanish season.
- 20 clubs, playing each other home and away, 38 matches
- The top four qualify for the Champions League, with additional European places by position and through the Copa del Rey
- The bottom three are relegated to the second tier, LaLiga Hypermotion, and three come up in exchange
- Promotion works as two automatic places plus a play-off between the clubs finishing third to sixth. There are no penalty shootouts in that play-off. If a tie stays level after extra time, the club that finished higher in the regular season goes through
That last rule is why Almería, who finished third, would have gone up on a drawn aggregate in this year's final. Málaga beat them outright instead.
Three clubs have played in every La Liga season since its formation in 1929: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Athletic Club. Real Madrid have won the most titles, and Lionel Messi remains the competition's all-time leading scorer.
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Frequently asked questions
How many clubs are in La Liga?
Twenty. They play 38 matches each between August and May, and the bottom three are relegated.
Which are the biggest Spanish soccer clubs?
Real Madrid and Barcelona are the two largest by titles, revenue and global following, with Atlético Madrid consistently third. Athletic Club, Sevilla, Valencia and Real Betis all have long histories and large domestic support.
Which clubs got promoted to La Liga for 2026/27?
Racing Santander and Deportivo La Coruña went up automatically as the top two, and Málaga CF won the play-off final against Almería.
Which La Liga clubs are in Madrid?
Four: Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Rayo Vallecano and Getafe. The first three are inside the city proper, Getafe is in a commuter town to the south.
Can students get cheap La Liga tickets?
Often yes. Most clubs offer under-25 or carnet joven discounts, and university sports offices frequently hold allocations. Smaller clubs like Rayo Vallecano, Getafe, Espanyol and Osasuna are far more affordable than Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Which Spanish city is best for a student who loves football?
Seville and Valencia give you two clubs each at a lower cost of living than Madrid or Barcelona. Bilbao is smaller but has one of the best matchday atmospheres in Europe at San Mamés.