[2] On 24 June 2021, the Spanish Council of Ministers resolved that spectators could return to stadiums at full capacity by means of a modification of the royal decree regulating the 'new normality', in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
[4] This was the first La Liga season since 2003–04 that did not feature the league's all-time top goal scorer Lionel Messi and long time Real Madrid player and captain Sergio Ramos, who both departed for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
A total of twenty teams contested the league, including seventeen sides from the 2020–21 season and three promoted from the 2020–21 Segunda División.
The first team to be relegated from La Liga were Eibar, after a 1–4 loss to Valencia on 16 May 2021, ending their seven-year stay in the top tier.
[5] The second team to be relegated were Valladolid, following a 1–2 home defeat against Atlético Madrid on 22 May 2021, in their final game of the season, ending their three-year stay in the top tier.