The Spanish first
division contains 20 teams. The Spanish second division is made
up of 22 teams from the whole of Spain, and lower divisions are
regionalised.
The bottom three clubs of the first division are relegated automatically
and the top three of the second one are promoted.
One big difference with other national football leagues is that
reserve teams (called team B or C.) of the top clubs play in the
lower divisions and not in in a separate league. In any case,
a lower ranked team cannot play in the same division as the highter
one.
Transfers between clubs are much more limited than in other countries.
Every spanish club must register, at the beginning of each season
a fixed first team squad of 25 players. Transfers of spanish and
EU players between teams of the same division during the footballing
season are strictly prohibited. From mid-december to mid-january
it's possible for EU players who had not played more than 4 games
for their club to be transferred, this is the only exception admitted
to the rules.
Each club can engage up to 4 non-Eu players, but only three are
allowed on the field at the same time.
There are three points for a win and one for a draw. If clubs
are level on points, the particular goal average between the two
sides counts before the general goal average.
Spanish
Liga's Regulations
