Liga Nacional The league was founded in 1988 as
Liga Nacional, formed by
Olímpico Fortuna,
Puente Castro,
Parque Alcobendas,
Santa María Atlético,
Vallès Occidental,
RCD Espanyol,
FC Barcelona,
CE Sabadell and
Peña Barcelonista Barcilona.
División de Honor Starting in the 1996–97 season the league was divided into 4 groups. The group winners played a semi-final and final to decide the champion.
Superliga By 2000, women's teams were displeased that their competitions and calendars were being created by men's teams so, in June 2000,
Levante submitted a proposal to the
Spanish Federation for a new league, the Superliga. Levante's proposed Superliga was to be organised by women's teams, under the Spanish Federation, and had the support of a majority of women's teams in the country. At the time it was proposed, with the intention to replace the league for the next (2001–02) season, the clubs also threatened to boycott Federation competitions if it was not accepted. For the 2001–02 season the league was renamed the
Superliga and the competition system was changed from the group format to a double round-robin, with each team playing the other teams twice, once away and once at home. The league in this period consisted of 14 teams. The 2008–09 season kept the double round-robin format as the league increased from 14 to 16 teams. In the 2009–10 season the Superliga increased from 16 to 24 teams, causing criticism by teams and players who feared a decline in the quality of competition. The Superliga was divided into 3 groups of 7 to 8 teams each, with geographically nearby teams placed into each group to minimize travel. In the first stage of the season, each team played each other team in its group twice. In the second stage, the best two of each group as well as the two best third-place finishers went into group A and the other teams were divided into groups B and C based on a predefined key. Again a double round-robin was played within each group. All Group A teams and the three best finishers of Group B and C qualified for the
Copa de la Reina, and the two best teams in Group A played each other in a two-legged final for the season's championship.
Rayo Vallecano won the 2009–10 and 2010-11 finals, both times against
RCD Espanyol. In the 2009–10 season, two teams had to withdraw from the league for financial reasons.
Primera División Starting in the 2011–12 season, the league was renamed to
Primera División and the group-based system was eliminated; 18 teams played
double round-robin to decide the champion. The size was reduced to 16 teams for the 2012–13 season. Before the 2016–17 season, the RFEF agreed to a sponsorship by
Iberdrola, renaming the league
Liga Iberdrola. This was slightly changed to
Primera Iberdrola in 2019. On 22 October 2019, following a breakdown of negotiations with the RFEF for a year over salaries and working conditions, the players went on a
strike and a number of league games had to be cancelled due to the strike. On 18 November, the players announced that they would be lifting the strike, after reaching an agreement with the ACFF to resume negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. In 2020 the Primera División was halted due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. On 10 June 2020 the Primera División was granted professionalised league status. Starting with the 2021-2022 season, the league became fully professional, and reduced from 18 teams to 16. The opening fixture of the
2023−24 season, set for 8 September 2023, was cancelled in the wake of strike called by five players unions. == Teams ==