By Bill Turianski on 7 December 2023; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-2023-24 La Liga (en.wikipedia.org).
-La Liga – Summary: matches, table, players, etc (soccerway.com).
-Sid Lowe at theguardian.com/football [Spanish football coverage] (theguardian.com/profile/sidlowe).
The map page shows a location-map for the 20 clubs in the 2023-24 La Liga, with recently-promoted and -relegated teams noted. (Promoted in 2023: Granada, Las Palmas, and Alavés; relegated in 2023: Valladolid, Espanyol, Elche.) The map also shows the 17 Autonomous Communities of Spain, and the 20 largest Spanish metropolitan areas. Those 20 largest Spanish metro-areas, with their 2018 population estimates, are listed at the top-centre of the map-page.
The 3 charts…
A.) A chart showing Current Attendance (up to week 15; 7 Dec 2023) plus 2022-23 finish, with teams playing in Europe noted. There are also columns listing Venue-capacities and Percent-capacities. Note: For 2023-24 (and part of ’24-25), FC Barcelona are playing at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, due to Camp Nou redevelopments (which are expected to be done by 2025–26). Barcelona’s home capacity is thus reduced by around 49,800. (Camp Nou capacity: 99,354. Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys capacity: 49,472.)
B.) A chart showing Seasons-in-La Liga by club, with consecutive seasons listed. This is the 93rd La Liga season. Three La Liga founding members – Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Athletic Club [Bilbao] have never been relegated.
C.) A chart showing the All-time Spanish professional titles list (1929 to 2022-23). There are only 9 clubs which have won a La Liga title, which is a dismally small number, and is an example of how the Spanish game is unbalanced by the near duopoly of Real Madrid/Barcelona.
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- Promoted to La Liga in 2023 – Granada, Las Palmas, and Alavés
2023: Granada, promoted back to La Liga after 1 year…
Granada CF are from Granada, Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located, by road, 160 miles (258 km) E of Seville. Granada is located, by road, 262 miles (422 km) S of Madrid. The elevation of Granada is 2,421 ft (738 m), which makes Granada .45 miles above sea level. Granada’s metropolitan population is around 232,000 {2018 figure}.
Granada first played in La Liga in 1941-42. Granada’s previous spell in the 1st division was for 3 seasons, from 2019 to ’22. Counting 2023-24, Granada have played 27 seasons of 1st division football.
Photo and Image credits above – Granada ’23-24 home jersey, from jerseydor.com. Nuevo Los Cármenes, photo from taquilla.com.
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2023: Las Palmas, promoted back to La Liga after 5 years…
UD Las Palmas are from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. The Canary Islands are an archipelago and an autonomous community of Spain, located in the Atlantic Ocean, 60 miles (100 km) west of southern Morocco. Las Palmas is located, by air, 1,079 miles (1,737 km) SW of Madrid. There are 7 main islands in the Canaries. The city of Las Palmas, on the central island of Gran Canaria, is the most populous city in the archipelago. The population of the whole Canary Islands is 2.1 million {2021 figure}, and Las Palmas’ metropolitan population is around 635,000 {2018 figure}.
Las Palmas first played in La Liga in 1951-52. Las Palmas’ previous spell in the 1st division was for 3 seasons, from 2015 to ’18. Counting 2023-24, Las Palmas have played 35 seasons of 1st division football.
Photo and Image credits above – Las Palmas ’23-24 home jersey, from hummel.net. Estadio Gran Canaria, photo unattributed at twitter.com/[@estadios_Spain].
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Alavés, promoted back to La Liga after 1 year…
Alavés are from Vitoria in the southern part of the Basque Country, in northern Spain. The name for the city in the Basque language is Gastiez, so the official name of the city is Vitoria-Gasteiz. Vitoria-Gasteiz is located, by road, 41 miles (65 km) south of Bilbao, and is located, by road, 219 miles (352 km) north of Madrid. Vitoria-Gasteiz’s metropolitan population is around 249,000 {2018 figure}.
Alavés first played in La Liga in 1930-31 (which was the third season of the Spanish first division). Alavés’ previous spell in the 1st division was for 6 seasons, from 2016 to ’22. Counting 2023-24, Alavés have played 17 seasons of 1st division football.
Photo and Image credits above – Alavés ’23-24 home jersey, unattributed at footyheadlines.com. Mendizorrotza Stadium, aerial shot unattributed at blogespanol.se.com.
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Girona FC: In second place in La Liga after 15 weeks.
Girona FC are from Girona, in northern Catalonia, located, by road, 64 miles (103 km) north of Barcelona. Girona have only played 4 seasons of top-flight football, and they play in a 14,000-capacity stadium. But they have the wealth of City Football Group behind them. Girona FC are 47%-majority-owned by City Football Group Ltd, whose flagship club is Manchester City. (CFG owns or partially-owns 12 football clubs worldwide. CFG is primarily (81%) funded by Sheikh Mansour of the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates.)
In the 2023-24 season, Girona led La Liga all through October and up to late November. But Girona fell to second place after drawing with Athletic [Bilbao], and Real Madrid overtook them in week 14 {see this}. Girona have lost once, to Real Madrid (by a score of 0-3), and they have yet to play Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. So it looks like Girona probably won’t be able to regain first place. But a 2nd-, 3rd, or 4th-place finish, and thus a coveted 2024-25 UEFA Champions League Group Stage spot, is still very much a possibility for Girona.
-From 13 Nov 2023, How Girona shocked Spain to climb to the top of La Liga (by Karl Matchett at independent.co.uk/sport).
Photo and Image credits above – Illustration of Girona ’23-24 home jersey, unattributed at footyheadlines.com. Aerial shot of Girona, unattributed at mudanzascano.com/mudanzas-en-girona. Aerial shot of Estadi Montilivi, unattributed at footballarroyo.co.uk. Exterior shot of Estadi Montilivi, photo by Jmsolerb via stadiumguide.com/montilivi. Artem Dovbyk celebrates goal w/ teammates, photo by Pere Punti via mundodeportivo.com/futbol. Míchel (manager of Girona), photo from mundodeportivo.com/futbol.
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Thanks to all at the following links…
-Blank map of Spain, by NordNordWest at File:Spain location map.svg;
-Globe-map of Spain, by Rob984 at File:EU-Spain (orthographic projection).svg;
-Map of the Community of Madrid, by Miguillen at File:Spain Madrid location map.svg (en.wikipedia.org).
-Map of Canary Islands, by Miguillen at File:Canarias-loc.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Largest metropolitan areas in Spain (2018 European Spatial Planning Observation Network figures) (en.wikipedia.org).
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Liga#Clubs.
-Autonomous communities of Spain;
-List of metropolitan areas in Spain (en.wikipedia.org).
-Attendance, worldfootball.net/attendance/esp-primera-division-2023-2024.
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