The first football league in Spain was The Catalan football championship (Campionat de Catalunya), established in 1901. After the creation of the La Liga, The Catalan football championship co-existed with the national league for some years until it was cancelled in 1940.

The first football league in Spain was The Catalan football championship (Campionat de Catalunya), established in 1901. After the creation of the La Liga, The Catalan football championship co-existed with the national league for some years until it was cancelled in 1940.

Nowadays, the top four teams in La Liga are qualified for the Champions League and the team that is placed fifth will get the chance to play in Europa League (one place also goes to the winner of the Copa del Rey).

The leagues all-time leading goalscorer is Lionel Messi who has (in May 2020) made 438 goals in Barcelona. Messi is also the only player to score 50 times during one season (it should be noticed that the numbers of games per season has shifted over times; as a comparison Telmo Zarra scored 38 times in the 1950-51 season when each team only played 30 games).