# List of Spanish football champions
The Spanish football champions are the winners of [La Liga](https://www.edgepedia.org/la-liga), the Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, Spain's top-flight league competition played every season since 1929. Nine clubs have won the title, with Real Madrid (36 championships) and [FC Barcelona](https://www.edgepedia.org/fc-barcelona) (29) together accounting for the large majority.[1](https://as.com/futbol/primera/palmares-de-laliga-campeon-ano-a-ano-cuantas-tienen-real-madrid-y-barca-y-quien-ha-ganado-mas-en-espana-f202605-n/) • [2](https://laligatable.co/la-liga-winners/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Competition | Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División (La Liga), first played in the 1928–29 season[3](https://www.footballhistory.org/league/la-liga.html) |
| First champion | Barcelona, winners of the inaugural 18-match 1928–29 season, two points ahead of Real Madrid[2](https://laligatable.co/la-liga-winners/) • [4](https://www.laliga.com/noticias/todos-los-campeones-de-la-historia-de-laliga) |
| Record champion | Real Madrid, 36 titles[1](https://as.com/futbol/primera/palmares-de-laliga-campeon-ano-a-ano-cuantas-tienen-real-madrid-y-barca-y-quien-ha-ganado-mas-en-espana-f202605-n/) |
| Second | FC Barcelona, 29 titles, including back-to-back championships in 2024/25 and 2025/26[1](https://as.com/futbol/primera/palmares-de-laliga-campeon-ano-a-ano-cuantas-tienen-real-madrid-y-barca-y-quien-ha-ganado-mas-en-espana-f202605-n/) • [5](https://rfef.es/en/noticias/The-presidents-of-the-RFEF-and-LALIGA-present-FC-Barcelona-with-their-29th-First-Division-championship-trophy) |
| Other champions | Atlético de Madrid (11), Athletic Club (8), Valencia (6), Real Sociedad (2), and RC Deportivo, Sevilla, and Betis (1 each)[1](https://as.com/futbol/primera/palmares-de-laliga-campeon-ano-a-ano-cuantas-tienen-real-madrid-y-barca-y-quien-ha-ganado-mas-en-espana-f202605-n/) |
| Number of champions | 9 clubs, compared with 16 in Italy and 28 in Germany[3](https://www.footballhistory.org/league/la-liga.html) |
| Interruption | The league was suspended between 1936 and 1939 by the Spanish Civil War[2](https://laligatable.co/la-liga-winners/) |
## Champions by club
Only nine clubs have lifted the title since the Campeonato Nacional de Liga was founded for the 1928–29 season.[1](https://as.com/futbol/primera/palmares-de-laliga-campeon-ano-a-ano-cuantas-tienen-real-madrid-y-barca-y-quien-ha-ganado-mas-en-espana-f202605-n/) The full roll of honor:
| Club | Titles |
|---|---|
| Real Madrid | 36 |
| FC Barcelona | 29 |
| Atlético de Madrid | 11 |
| Athletic Club | 8 |
| Valencia CF | 6 |
| Real Sociedad | 2 |
| RC Deportivo de la Coruña | 1 |
| Sevilla FC | 1 |
| Real Betis | 1 |
[1](https://as.com/futbol/primera/palmares-de-laliga-campeon-ano-a-ano-cuantas-tienen-real-madrid-y-barca-y-quien-ha-ganado-mas-en-espana-f202605-n/)
## Early years (1929–1936)
The first league season began in February 1929; the opening ball rolled on 10 February 1929.[6](https://es.uefa.com/news-media/news/019a-0f8453cb8f4d-6e4c823a48f4-1000--la-liga-cumple-75-anos/) Barcelona won that inaugural competition with 25 points to Real Madrid's 23 in an 18-match season.[2](https://laligatable.co/la-liga-winners/) • [4](https://www.laliga.com/noticias/todos-los-campeones-de-la-historia-de-laliga) Athletic Club then dominated the early years with four titles before the [Spanish Civil War](https://www.edgepedia.org/spanish-civil-war) halted the league between 1936 and 1939.[2](https://laligatable.co/la-liga-winners/) The pre-war seasons also produced one-off champions outside the big clubs: [Real Betis](https://www.edgepedia.org/real-betis) in 1934–35, with 34 points to Real Madrid's 33.[4](https://www.laliga.com/noticias/todos-los-campeones-de-la-historia-de-laliga)
## Mid-century and the Atlético Aviación titles
When play resumed, Atlético won the first two post-war championships, in 1939/40 and 1940/41, under the name Atlético Aviación.[7](https://laligaupdate.com/news-and-editorial/la-liga-winners-by-year/) Valencia won in 1941–42 and 1943–44, and Barcelona and [Atlético Madrid](https://www.edgepedia.org/atletico-madrid) traded titles through the late 1940s.[4](https://www.laliga.com/noticias/todos-los-campeones-de-la-historia-de-laliga) From the mid-1950s Real Madrid began its long run: the club won the title in 1953–54, 1954–55, 1956–57, and every season from 1960–61 through 1964–65, then again from 1966–67 to 1968–69.[4](https://www.laliga.com/noticias/todos-los-campeones-de-la-historia-de-laliga) Atlético, Valencia, and Barcelona interrupted periodically, and [Real Sociedad](https://www.edgepedia.org/real-sociedad) took consecutive championships in 1980/81 and 1981/82, the only two league titles in the club's history.[7](https://laligaupdate.com/news-and-editorial/la-liga-winners-by-year/) Athletic Club won back-to-back Ligas in 1983 and 1984.[8](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature/rise-of-the-basque-country-real-sociedad-athletic-club-bilbao)
## Recent decades
The championship has been concentrated in two clubs since the 1990s. Barcelona has won 19 of its 29 titles since the 1990/91 season, against 11 for Real Madrid in the same span.[9](https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/football/news/barcelona-real-madrid-won-more-trophies-titles-clasico/ab6f1847781841b90d404443) Atlético de Madrid broke the duopoly in 2013–14 (90 points to Barcelona's 87) and again in 2020/21, when it finished on 86 points to Real Madrid's 84.[10](https://www.laliga.com/en-GB/news/title-comparison-barcelona-vs-atletico-madrid) Barcelona has been the leading champion of the century so far, with 13 Primera División titles won since 2000, the two most recent consecutively.[11](https://rfef.es/es/noticias/los-presidentes-de-la-rfef-y-laliga-entregan-al-fc-barcelona-su-29o-trofeo-de-campeones-de)
**The 2025/26 title.** Barcelona retained the championship on 10 May 2026, beating Real Madrid 2–0 at [Camp Nou](https://www.edgepedia.org/camp-nou) with goals from [Marcus Rashford](https://www.edgepedia.org/marcus-rashford) and [Ferran Torres](https://www.edgepedia.org/ferran-torres); the result gave Barcelona an insurmountable 14-point lead with three rounds remaining, a 29th overall title and second straight.[5](https://rfef.es/en/noticias/The-presidents-of-the-RFEF-and-LALIGA-present-FC-Barcelona-with-their-29th-First-Division-championship-trophy) • [12](https://apnews.com/article/b7b21347b1829a5a738a7388c8f5bf88) It was the first time the title had been clinched in El Clásico.[13](https://laligaexpert.com/la-liga-winners/)
## How the champion is decided
The champion is the club finishing first in the league table. Ties are broken first by head-to-head record between the tied clubs, applied before goal difference; Real Madrid has taken a title on this tiebreaker.[2](https://laligatable.co/la-liga-winners/) The 2006–07 season, in which Real Madrid and Barcelona both finished on 76 points, was decided this way.[4](https://www.laliga.com/noticias/todos-los-campeones-de-la-historia-de-laliga)
## Concentration of titles
The all-time list is heavily top-heavy because of the Barcelona–Real Madrid duopoly.[2](https://laligatable.co/la-liga-winners/) Spain's nine champions compare with 16 in Italy and 28 in Germany, a measure of how few clubs have broken through.[3](https://www.footballhistory.org/league/la-liga.html)
## References
1. [Palmarés de LaLiga: campeón año a año, cuántas tienen Real Madrid y Barça y quién ha ganado más en España, AS.com](https://as.com/futbol/primera/palmares-de-laliga-campeon-ano-a-ano-cuantas-tienen-real-madrid-y-barca-y-quien-ha-ganado-mas-en-espana-f202605-n/)
2. [La Liga Winners — Every Champion by Season, Laligatable](https://laligatable.co/la-liga-winners/)
3. [Spanish La Liga — facts, stats and history, Football History](https://www.footballhistory.org/league/la-liga.html)
4. [Todos los campeones de la historia de LaLiga, LALIGA](https://www.laliga.com/noticias/todos-los-campeones-de-la-historia-de-laliga)
5. [The presidents of the RFEF and LALIGA present FC Barcelona with their 29th First Division championship trophy, RFEF](https://rfef.es/en/noticias/The-presidents-of-the-RFEF-and-LALIGA-present-FC-Barcelona-with-their-29th-First-Division-championship-trophy)
6. [La Liga cumple 75 años, UEFA.com](https://es.uefa.com/news-media/news/019a-0f8453cb8f4d-6e4c823a48f4-1000--la-liga-cumple-75-anos/)
7. [La Liga Winners by Year: Every Champion & Most Titles, Laliga Update](https://laligaupdate.com/news-and-editorial/la-liga-winners-by-year/)
8. [Real Sociedad, Athletic Club and Basque Country 'quarries', FourFourTwo](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature/rise-of-the-basque-country-real-sociedad-athletic-club-bilbao)
9. [Have Barcelona or Real Madrid won more trophies? Sporting News](https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/football/news/barcelona-real-madrid-won-more-trophies-titles-clasico/ab6f1847781841b90d404443)
10. [Title Comparison: Atlético de Madrid vs FC Barcelona, LALIGA](https://www.laliga.com/en-GB/news/title-comparison-barcelona-vs-atletico-madrid)
11. [los presidentes de la rfef y laliga entregan al fc barcelona su 29º trofeo de campeones de primera división | www.rfef.es](https://rfef.es/es/noticias/los-presidentes-de-la-rfef-y-laliga-entregan-al-fc-barcelona-su-29o-trofeo-de-campeones-de)
12. [Watched by its grieving coach, Barcelona retains Spanish league title, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/b7b21347b1829a5a738a7388c8f5bf88)
13. [La Liga winners list — All the Spanish football champions, Laliga Expert](https://laligaexpert.com/la-liga-winners/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football competitions and records › Competitions and recurring events › Domestic leagues and league seasons › Major continental European leagues › La Liga (men's Spanish top flight)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 20, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 20, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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