Primera Federación Femenina is the division immediately below Liga F.
Its format appears straightforward: a fourteen-team league, two promotion places and one relegation place. However, the play-off system and the presence of reserve teams mean that the standings cannot always be read literally.
These are the basic rules for the 2026/27 season.
Fourteen teams and 26 matchdays
Primera Federación is contested in a single group of fourteen teams.
During the regular season, each team faces the other thirteen twice: once at home and once away. The season therefore consists of 26 matchdays.
The usual points system applies: three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a defeat.
Two promotion places to Liga F
The division awards two promotion places.
The team that finishes the regular season in first place earns automatic promotion to Liga F, provided that it is eligible to take the place.
The second promotion place is decided through a play-off involving the teams placed second to fifth:
- 2nd versus 5th.
- 3rd versus 4th.
The winners of the two semi-finals then meet in the final. Both the semi-finals and the final are played over two legs.
How the play-offs are decided
The lower-ranked team plays the first leg at home. The higher-ranked team hosts the second leg.
If the aggregate score is level after the two matches, thirty minutes of extra time are played.
The position earned during the regular season remains important until the end: if the tie is still level after extra time, there is no penalty shootout. The team that finished higher over the 26 matchdays advances.
The winner of the final earns the second promotion place to Liga F.
What happens with reserve teams
Reserve or affiliated teams compete in the same standings and can finish in any position, including first.
They can also be crowned Primera Federación champions. What they cannot do is earn promotion or take part in the play-offs when their senior team is already competing in Liga F.
In that situation, the right to promotion or play-off participation passes to the next eligible team in the standings.
This means that the table can be read in two different ways: the overall sporting standings, which include every participant, and the promotion race, which includes only the teams eligible to move up.
The presence and influence of reserve teams in the division raise further questions beyond this rule. FemGol examines them in Primera Federación Femenina: the reserve-team league has a solution.
One relegation place
Only one team is relegated during the 2026/27 season.
The side that finishes the regular season in fourteenth and last place is relegated directly to Segunda Federación. The other thirteen retain their place in the division on sporting merit.
Primera Federación can therefore be summarised in four figures: 14 teams, 26 matchdays, two promotion places and one relegation place.
