The Spanish football league system consists of several professional, semi-professional and non-professional leagues bound together hierarchically by promotion and relegation. The top two tiers of the male league pyramid — Primera División (a.k.a. La Liga) and Segunda División (a.k.a. La Liga 2) — are administered by the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, a sports association with independent legal status from the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), the governing body of football in Spain. Conversely, the top tiers of the women's pyramid (Liga F), second and third tier of the women's pyramid, (Primera Federación and Segunda Federación) are administered by the RFEF. The lower tiers (6th and below for the men's pyramid; 5th and below for the female one) are run by the regional federations. In addition to clubs from Spain, and under the purview of the additional provision 17 of the 1990 Law of Sport, Andorran clubs affiliated to a Spanish regional federation are allowed to compete in the system.[1]
The RFEF allows reserve teams to compete in the main league system, as is the case in most European domestic leagues. However, reserve teams are not allowed to compete in the same tier as their senior team, and no reserve team has thus competed in the top flight.
- ^ Castelló, José I. (6 October 2017). "'Club catalán busca liga competitiva para jugar'". Crónica Global (in Spanish) – via El Español.