The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División,[a] commonly known as the Primera División[b] or La Liga[c][2] and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports[d][3] since 2023 because of sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional football division of the Spanish football league system.

The fifth place team in La Liga and the winner of the Copa del Rey also qualify for the subsequent season's UEFA Europa League group stage.

[13] In April 1928, José María Acha, a director at Arenas de Getxo, first proposed the idea of a national league in Spain.

After much debate about the size of the league and who would take part, the Real Federación Española de Fútbol eventually agreed on the ten teams who would form the first Primera División in 1929.

Although Barcelona won the first Liga in 1929 and Ricardo Zamora's Real Madrid won their first titles in 1932 and 1933, it was Athletic Bilbao that set the early pace winning La Liga in 1930, 1931, 1934 and 1936 (in addition to four Copa trophies), and they also achieved the biggest win in La Liga history by beating Barcelona 12–1; This team, coached by Fred Pentland, is known by the nickname First historic squad, notably forming an attacking partnership with Bata, Guillermo Gorostiza, José Iraragorri, Chirri II and Lafuente.

In 1937, the teams in the Republican area of Spain, with the notable exception of the two Madrid clubs, competed in the Mediterranean League and Barcelona emerged as champions.

The young, pre-war squad of Valencia had also remained intact and in the post-war years matured into champions, gaining three Liga titles in 1942, 1944, and 1947.

Athletic Bilbao was one of the clubs most affected by the war, since many of its players (sympathizers of the Republican faction) went into exile in Latin America and very few returned.

But thanks to a search for young talents, they managed to form the well-known Second historic squad made up of Rafael Iriondo, Venancio Pérez, José Luis Panizo, Agustín Gaínza and the mythical scorer Telmo Zarra (Spanish top scorer in La Liga history, among other records).

During his playing career with Barcelona he scored 133 goals, won the inaugural La Liga title and five Copa Del Rey.

During this decade, FC Barcelona's first golden era emerged under coach Ferdinand Daučík, winning back-to-back La Liga and Copa Del Rey doubles in 1951–52 and 1952–53.

Their success in winning five trophies in one year earned them the name 'L’equip de les cinc Copes'[15] or The Team of the Five Cups.

In the latter parts of the 1950s, coached by Helenio Herrera and featuring Luis Suárez, Barcelona won yet again back-to-back La Liga's, winning them in 1959 and 1960.

[citation needed] Di Stéfano, Puskás, Raymond Kopa and Francisco Gento formed the nucleus of the Real Madrid team that dominated the second half of the 1950s.

[18] Real Sociedad won their first La Liga titles in 1981 and 1982; Luis Arconada, Roberto López Ufarte and Txiki Begiristain stood out from this team.

Later, Athletic Bilbao also managed to win two consecutive La Liga titles in 1983 and 1984, also achieving their fifth La Liga and Copa del Rey double in 1984; The stars Andoni Zubizarreta, Santi Urkiaga, Andoni Goikoetxea, Dani, Manuel Sarabia and Estanislao Argote made this success possible.

Cruyff decided to build a team composed of international stars and La Masia graduates in order to restore Barcelona to their former glory days.

Cruyff's Dream Team also consisted of La Masia graduates Pep Guardiola, Albert Ferrer and Guillermo Amor, as well as Basque Andoni Zubizarreta.

The success of possession-based football was revolutionary,[21] and Cruyff's team won their first European Cup in 1992 and four consecutive La Liga titles between 1991 and 1994.

In total, Cruyff won eleven trophies in eight years, making him the most successful manager in Barcelona's history, until the record was broken by his protégé Pep Guardiola two decades later.

With world-class players like Raúl, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gonzalo Higuaín, Real Madrid won back-to-back La Liga titles in 2006–07 and 2007–08.

[23] In the 2014–15 season, under the trio of Messi, Neymar, and Suarez nicknamed 'MSN', Barcelona made history by becoming the first team to achieve a second Treble, and winning a sixth Liga/Copa Del Rey double.

[28] In August 2021, La Liga clubs approved a €2.7 billion deal to sell 10% of the league to CVC Capital Partners.

EA (Electronic Arts) replaced the Spanish financial services giant Santander that was the title sponsor of the league for seven years.

[31] Following the flash floods disaster that hit Spain at the end of October, claiming the lives of over 200 people, the Spanish league postponed all matches scheduled to be played in the Valencian region on Thursday.

Sometimes, this can lead to a triple-citizenship situation; for example, Leo Franco, who was born in Argentina, is of Italian heritage yet can claim a Spanish passport, having played in La Liga for over five years.

In addition, players from the ACP countries—countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific that are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement—are not counted against non-EU quotas due to the Kolpak ruling.

The first La Liga player to be involved in a transfer which broke the world record was Luis Suárez in 1961, who moved from Barcelona to Inter Milan for £152,000 (£4.3 million in 2023).

12 years later, Johan Cruyff was the first player to join a club in La Liga for a record fee of £922,000 (£14.1 million in 2023), when he moved from Ajax to Barcelona.

[37] Four of the last six world transfer records have been set by Real Madrid, signing Luís Figo,[38] Zinedine Zidane,[39] Cristiano Ronaldo[40] (plus a deal for Kaká days before Ronaldo[41] which fell just below a world record due to the way the fee was calculated)[42] and finally Gareth Bale, who was bought in 2013 for £85.3m (€103.4m or $140m at the time; £123.5m in 2023) from Tottenham Hotspur.