In April 1928, Jos Mara Acha, a director at 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 Federacin Española de Ftbol eventually agreed on the ten teams who would form the first Primera Divisin in 1929. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Club, Real Sociedad, Getxo, and Real Unin were all selected as previous winners of the Copa del Rey. Atltico Madrid, Espanyol, and Europa qualified as Copa del Rey runners-up and Racing de Santander qualified through a knockout competition. Only three of the founding clubs (Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Athletic Club) have never been relegated from the Primera Divisin.
Although Barcelona won the very first Liga in 1929 and Real Madrid won their first titles in 1932 and 1933, it was Athletic Club that set the early pace winning Primera Divisin in 1930, 1931, 1934 and 1936. They were also runners-up in 1932 and 1933. In 1935, Real Betis, then known as Betis Balompi, won their only title to date. Primera Divisin was suspended during the Spanish Civil War.
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. Seventy years later, on 28 September 2007, Barcelona requested the Royal Spanish Football Federation (Spanish acronym RFEF) to recognise that title as a Liga title. This action was taken after RFEF was asked to recognise Levante FCs Copa de la España Libre win as equivalent to Copa del Rey trophy. Nevertheless, the governing body of Spanish football has not made an outright decision yet.
When the Primera Divisin resumed after the Spanish Civil War, it was Atltico Aviacin (nowadays Atltico Madrid), Valencia, and FC Barcelona that emerged as the strongest clubs. Atltico were only awarded a place during the 193940 season as a replacement for Real Oviedo, whose ground had been damaged during the war. The club subsequently won its first Liga title and retained it in 1941. While other clubs lost players to exile, execution, and as casualties of the war, the Atltico team was reinforced by a merger. 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. They were also runners-up in 1948 and 1949. Sevilla also enjoyed a brief golden era, finishing as runners-up in 1940 and 1942 before winning their only title to date in 1946.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Spain, FC Barcelona began to emerge as a force under the legendary Josep Samitier. A Spanish footballer for both Barcelona and Real Madrid, Samitier cemented his legacy with Barcelona. During his playing career with them, he scored 333 goals, won the inaugural La Liga title and five Copa Del Rey. In 1944, Samitier returned to Barcelona as a coach and guided them in winning their second La Liga title in 1945. Under Samitier and legendary players Csar Rodrguez, Josep Escol, Estanislau Basora and Mariano Gonzalvo, Barcelona dominated La Liga in the late 1940s, winning back to back La Liga titles in 1948 and 1949. The 1940s proved to be a successful season for Barcelona, winning three La Liga titles and one Copa Del Rey, but the 1950s proved to be a decade of dominance, not just from Barcelona, but from Real Madrid.
The 1950s also saw the beginning of the Real Madrid dominance. During the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, there were strict limits imposed on foreign players. Real Madrid continue to win until the 60s making it 12 titles in 15 years. In most cases, clubs could have only three foreign players in their squads, meaning that at least eight local players had to play in every game. During the 1950s, however, these rules were circumvented by Real Madrid who naturalized Alfredo Di Stfano and Ferenc Pusks. Di Stfano, Pusks, Raymond Kopa and Francisco Gento formed the nucleus of the Real Madrid team that dominated the second half of the 1950s. Real Madrid won their third La Liga in 1954 their first since 1933 and retained their title in 1955. In 1956, Athletic Club won their sixth La Liga title, but Real Madrid won La Liga again in 1957 and 1958. In addition to their domestic success, Real Madrid dominated the newly created European Cup, sweeping the first five editions and assuming the title of the worlds best football club. All in all, Barcelona and Real Madrid won 4 La Liga titles each in the 50s, with Atltico Madrid winning two Liga and Athletic Club winning one during this decade. Although Atltico Madrid, previously known as Atltico Aviacin, were champions in 1950 and 1951 under catenaccio mastermind Helenio Herrera, the 1950s continued the success FC Barcelona had during the late 1940s after they had won back to back La Liga titles. During this decade, Barcelonas first golden era emerged. Under coach Ferdinand Daučk, FC Barcelona won back-to-back doubles, winning La Liga and Copa Del Rey in 1952 and 1953. In 1952, FC Barcelona made history yet again by winning five distinctive trophies in one year. This team, composed of Lszl Kubala, Mariano Gonzalvo, Csar Rodrguez and Joan Segarra won La Liga, Copa Del Rey, Copa Eva Duarte (predecessor of Spanish Super Cup), Latin Cup and Copa Martini & Rossi. Their success in winning five trophies in one year earned them the name Lequip de les cinc Copes or The Team of The Five Cups. In the latter parts of the 1950s, coached by Helenio Herrera and featuring Luis Surez, Barcelona won yet again their third set of back to back La Liga, winning them in 1959 and 1960. In 1959, FC Barcelona also won another double of La Liga / Copa Del Rey, conquering three doubles in the 1950s.
Real Madrid dominated La Liga between 1960 and 1980, being crowned champions 14 times. Real Madrid won five La Liga titles in a row from 1961 to 1965 as well as winning three doubles between 1960 and 1980. During the 1960s and 1970s, only Atltico Madrid offered Real Madrid any serious challenge. Atltico Madrid were crowned La Liga champions four times in 1966, 1970, 1973, and 1977. Atltico Madrid also finished second place in 1961, 1963, and 1965. In 1971, Valencia won their fourth La Liga title in 1971 under Alfredo Di Stfano, and the Johan Cruyff-inspired Barcelona won their ninth La Liga in 1974.
The first La Liga player to be involved in a transfer which broke the world record was Luis Surez in 1961, who moved from Barcelona to Inter Milan for 152,000 (3.6 million in 2021). 12 years later, Johan Cruyff was the first player to join a club in La Liga for a record fee of 922,000 (11.9 million in 2021), when he moved from Ajax to Barcelona. In 1982, Barcelona again set the record by signing Diego Maradona from Boca Juniors for 5 million (19 million in 2021). Real Betis set the world record in 1998 when they signed Denlson from São Paulo for 21.5 million (40.2 million in 2021).
Real Madrids monopoly in La Liga was interrupted significantly in the 1980s. Although Real Madrid won another five La Liga titles in a row from 1986 to 1990 under the brilliance of Emilio Butragueño and Hugo Snchez, the Basque clubs of Real Sociedad and Athletic Club also dominated the 1980s. Real Sociedad won back-to-back La Liga titles in 1981 and 1982, after leaving Real Madrid runner-up both times. Their title wins were followed by fellow Basque club Athletic Club, who won back-to-back titles in 1983 and 1984, with Athletic Club winning their fifth La Liga and Copa Del Rey double in 1984. Barcelona won their tenth La Liga title in 1985 under coach Terry Venables, their first La Liga win since 1974.
Johan Cruyff returned to Barcelona as manager in 1988, and assembled the legendary Dream Team. When Cruyff took hold of this Barcelona side they had won only two La Liga titles in the past 20 years. Cruyff decided to build a team composed of international stars and La Masia graduates in order to restore Barcelona to their former glorious days. This team was formed by international stars Romario, Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov and Ronald Koeman. Cruyffs Dream Team also consisted of La Masia graduates Pep Guardiola, Albert Ferrer, and Guillermo Amor, as well as Spaniard Andoni Zubizarreta.
Johan Cruyff changed the way modern football was played, and incorporated the principles of Total Football into this team. The success of possession-based football was revolutionary, and Cruyffs team won their first European Cup in 1992 and four consecutive La Liga titles between 1991 and 1994. In total, Cruyff won 11 trophies in eight years, making him the most successful manager in Barcelonas history until the record was broken by his protg Pep Guardiola two decades later.
Barcelonas run ended with Real Madrid winning La Liga in 1995. Atltico Madrid won their ninth La Liga title in 1996, as well as their only Liga/Copa Del Rey double, before Real Madrid added another league title to their cabinet in 1997. After the success of Cruyff, another Dutchman Ajax manager, Louis van Gaal arrived at the Camp Nou, and with the talents of Lus Figo, Luis Enrique, and Rivaldo, Barcelona won the La Liga title in 1998 and 1999, including their fourth double of Liga and Copa Del Rey in 1998. All in all, Barcelona won six La Liga titles in the 1990s.
The 21st century continued success FC Barcelona had in the 1990s under Johan Cruyff, dominating La Liga, although their they saw a league drought at the beginning of the new millennium, not winning the title until 2005, under the management of Frank Rijkaard. Although Real Madrid have been prominent, Barcelona have created a hegemony in Spain not seen since the Real Madrid of the 1960s70s. Since the start of the new century, Barcelona have won 10 La Ligas, including two trebles and four doubles. This new century however has also seen new challengers being crowned champions. Between 19992000 and 2004, Deportivo La Coruña finished in the top three on five occasions, a better record than either Real Madrid or Barcelona, and in 2000, under Javier Irureta, Deportivo became the ninth team to be crowned champions. Valencia were one of the strongest teams in Europe in the early to mid 2000s; they were crowned La Liga champions in 2002 and 2004 under Rafael Bentez, whilst also being runners-up in the UEFA Champions League in 2000 and 2001 under Hector Cuper and winning the UEFA Cup in 2004 and the Copa del Rey in 1999.
Real Madrid won their first Liga titles of the century in 2001 and 2003. With world-class players like Ral, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gonzalo Higuan, Real Madrid won back-to-back La Liga titles in 200607 and 200708. FC Barcelona won their first title of the new century after Real Madrid and Valencia had shared the last four titles under the brilliance of Ronaldinho and Samuel Etoo in the 200405 season. Barcelona retained the title to make it back-to-back wins in the 200506 season.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atltico Madrid have been in the top ten most successful clubs in European football in terms of total European trophies. These three clubs, along with Sevilla and Valencia, are the only Spanish clubs to have won five or more international trophies. Deportivo La Coruña are the joint fifth-most participating Spanish team in the Champions League with Sevilla after Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Atltico Madrid with five Champions League appearances in a row, including a semi-finals appearance in 200304.
In 200910, Real Madrid achieved a record 96 points but still finished behind Barcelona, who amassed 99 points. Barcelona the won a third straight La Liga title in the 201011 season with 96 points to Reals 92, but Real Madrid ended their winning streak in the 201112 season under the management of Jos Mourinho and with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, ngel Di Mara, Mesut Özil and Karim Benzema. Madrid won their 32nd La Liga title with a record 100 points, a record 121 goals scored and a record +89 goal difference. The following year, in the 201213 season, Barcelona won yet another La Liga title under coach Tito Vilanova, replicating the 100 points record Real Madrid achieved the previous year. Atltico Madrid, under the management of Diego Simeone, won their tenth La Liga title in 201314, their first since 1996. They became the first team since Valencia in 2004 to win La Liga and break Barcelona and Real Madrids dominion over the league. In the 201415 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. Barcelona continued their dominance, and in the 201516 season they won a back-to-back Liga/Copa Del Rey double, something that had not been achieved since the 1950s. Real Madrid brought back the La Liga title under the management of Zinedine Zidane in 201617, but Barcelona won the title again in the 201718 season, as well as winning their eighth double, for 7 La Liga titles in 10 years. Barcelona retained the title yet again and won their 26th La Liga title in the 201819 season, for 8 La Liga titles in 11 years. Real Madrid reclaimed the title in 201920, winning the season that was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brazilian forward Neymar was the subject of an expensive and complicated transfer arrangement when he joined Barcelona from Santos in 2013, and his outgoing transfer to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 set a new world record fee at €222m via his buyout clause. Barcelona soon invested a large amount of the money received from this transfer in a replacement, Ousmane Dembl, whose deal €105m was the second most expensive ever before Philippe Coutinhos transfer to Barcelona for €142m in January 2018.
Four of the last six world transfer records have been set by Real Madrid, signing Lus Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo (plus a deal for Kak days before Ronaldo which fell just below a world record due to the way the fee was calculated) and finally Gareth Bale, who was bought in 2013 for 85.3m (€103.4m or $140m at the time; 104m in 2021) from Tottenham Hotspur.
In 2015, La Liga became the first league to enter five teams in the Champions League group stage, with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atltico Madrid and Valencia qualifying via their league position and Sevilla qualifying by virtue of their victory in the Europa League, courtesy of a rule change.
In La Liga in 2020, each club is allowed five non-EU players but are only allowed to name three non-EU players in each matchday squad.
In August 2021, La Liga clubs approved a €2.7 billion deal to sell 10% of the league to CVC Capital Partners.
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