Spain is a complex country where people often take greater pride in their region than they do in their nation. It is full of contrasting regional identities and those really do manifest themselves on the football pitch and in the stands, not least on derby day. Here’s a look at some of the biggest Spanish football rivalries. You may also want to check out the excellent Copa90 documentaries on some of the big Spanish derbies, a few of which feature below.
10 of the Biggest Spanish Football Rivalries
The Seville Derby
Sevilla vs Real Betis
This is Spain’s fiercest city derby by some distance. The other major cities have rivalries that have historically been quite one-sided but not this one. It’s only really over the past 15 years that Sevilla have truly emerged as the more successful club with no fewer than seven UEFA Cup/Europa League successes, following their latest triumph in 2023, giving them a clear edge in terms of trophies won and a real modern identity.
However Betis fans will be quick to claim the bigger fanbase and attendances at the larger Benito Villamarin do back that up, with the green and white half of Seville averaging around 16,000 more fans per home game than their rivals during the 2023/24 LaLiga season and the third highest figures in Spain overall. They also see themselves as the working class club and this is a derby day where tempers regularly flare both on and off the pitch in arguably Spain’s most passionate football city.
El Clasico
Barcelona vs Real Madrid
This one doesn’t really need any introduction. It would be silly to even try to summarise the complexities and politics of El Clasico into a short paragraph but it’s safe to say that this remains the biggest game in world football featuring the two biggest clubs on the planet.
Unlike many major football club rivalries around the world, the action more often than not lives up to the hype with attacking football, sublime skill and a few goals usually guaranteed. While it’s true that the fixture may have lost something in the years immediately following Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s departures from LaLiga, the 2024/25 season could see a new era really kick off with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Lamine Yamal ensuring the Clasico won’t be lacking that touch of star quality.
Tickets for this fixture don’t come cheap but if there’s one game you want to experience in your lifetime, it’s surely the eternal rivalry between Madrid and Barça with fans travelling from far and wide to sample the atmosphere. Tickets for El Clasico can sometimes still be found in the week of the game via the home team’s website, but club members do often snap all of them up before they go on general sale. To guarantee your place, you can book in advance through sportsbreaks.com, an official LaLiga ticket and hotel breaks provider.
The Basque Derby
Athletic Club vs Real Sociedad
The Basque Country is a truly unique place, and given that, it’s no surprise that its biggest football fixture doesn’t quite fit the usual mold of a derby game. Most local dust-ups have their unsavoury elements and passionate atmospheres that at times cross the line into something far more unpleasant. However the meeting of the two biggest Basque clubs sees fans of opposing sides mingle to drink together before the game and often sit next to each other in the stadium.
Despite the friendly nature, it is unquestionably still one of the biggest rivalries in Spanish football. Athletic have had more success down the years and have boldly hung on to their “Basque only” transfer policy. Real Sociedad abandoned that stance when they signed John Aldridge in 1989 but still take great pride in their academy and ability to produce local talent, something which helped them get the better of Athletic in the delayed 2020 Copa del Rey Final, arguably the biggest ever meeting between the clubs.
The Madrid Derby
Real Madrid vs Atlético Madrid
For long periods, this was one of those lopsided city rivalries dominated by Real Madrid, but there are few things Atleti fans enjoy more than getting one over on their illustrious neighbours. The rise of Los Rojiblancos under Diego Simeone in the 2010’s ensured it became an increasingly important and more even contest.
Such was Atleti’s impressive rise, that we even had two Champions League Final Madrid derbies, both won in dramatic circumstances by Los Blancos in 2014 and 2016. In terms of the quality and levels of the two teams, this is up there with the very best city derbies in world football and Madrid has even been referred to as the European capital of football in recent years.
While Los Blancos cleared up the major honours during the 2023/24 season, winning both LaLiga and the Champions League, they were still beaten twice by Atleti, the only competitive defeats suffered by Carlo Ancelotti’s side last term.
The Galician Derby
Celta Vigo vs Deportivo La Coruña
Galicia is in some respects one of the least Spanish parts of Spain. With a climate, landscape and even culture that has a Celtic feel, this isolated corner of Iberia is home to two major clubs, who historically have been roughly equal in terms of size and stature.
Vigo, home of Celta, is marginally the bigger city and can currently claim to be the home of the region’s only top flight club. However in terms of silverware, Depor have the edge thanks to a remarkable period where they defied the odds to challenge the Spanish elite around the turn of the century.
Following a shock relegation from the Segunda División in 2020, Depor have fallen on hard times in recent years though and even suffered the humiliation of losing against Celta’s B team who are in their section of the Primera Federacion. Things are finally looking up at the Riazor as we head into the 2024/25 campaign with Depor back in the Segunda after a four year stay in the third tier.
The Asturian Derby
Real Oviedo vs Sporting Gijón
Another of the most ferocious football rivalries in Spain takes place in Asturias, a small but incredibly picturesque northern region. Gijón and Oviedo are just 30 km apart, which certainly adds to the spice in a country where many “local” derbies involve teams that are actually fairly distant neighbours by the standards of most European countries.
A bit like the Galician derby, fans of Sporting Gijón and Real Oviedo are both really proud to be Asturian but when derby day comes, passions rise and the battle to be the pride of the principality can spill over into the streets with violent clashes between rival groups not uncommon.
These clubs are relatively evenly matched in terms of size and stature and both play in the Segunda Division. Sporting and Oviedo came 5th and 6th respectively last season, but were both defeated by Espanyol in the play-offs.
Canary Islands Derby
Las Palmas vs Tenerife
The Canary Islands are most widely known as a pleasant, winter sun destination but not many visitors appreciate the extent of the passion for football which exists. Even within Spain, their distant location, at least a two hour flight from the mainland, means they are often overlooked but the Canaries have played a real part in Spanish football history. The likes of David Silva and current Barcelona star Pedri hail from the two major islands whose biggest clubs contest the Canary Islands Derby.
Las Palmas, from the island of Gran Canaria, have spent more seasons in the top flight but Tenerife have had periods when they’ve been the more successful club too, particularly during the 1990’s when they spent 10 straight seasons in the Primera.
To some extent, it’s surprising how rarely this fixture has been played with the clubs often in different leagues but it was a regular on the Segunda División calendar in recent years until Las Palmas won promotion in 2023.
Catalan Derby
Barcelona vs Espanyol
The big derby in Catalunya is between the two major clubs in the city of Barcelona and is also known as the Derbi barceloni. It has been one of the most one-sided rivalries in European football with FC Barcelona the dominant force but their rare derby slip-ups have often been memorable.
One of the sweetest moments for Espanyol fans was not even a victory, but a 2-2 draw at Camp Nou in a match dubbed “El Tamudazo” as visiting forward Raúl Tamudo scored a brace late in the 2006/07 season which proved decisive in Barcelona’s failure to win the league.
They’ve not had much to shout about since though with the RCDE Stadium playing host to Barca title celebrations in 2023 as Espanyol dropped down into the second tier. The Cornella-based side have bounced straight back up though meaning the Derbi barceloni is a date for the diary during the 2024/25 Spanish football season.
Alicante Province Derby
Hercules vs Elche
This is another of those derbies that younger football fans may not be aware of with the most recent meetings having taken place in the relative obscurity of the Segunda B in 2017/18. While Elche have since risen back to take their place amongst the Spanish elite before suffering relegation in 2023, Hercules have slid further, ending up in the fourth tier following a restructure of the Spanish lower leagues, before winning promotion to the Primera Federacion in 2024.
It may still be some time before we get another derby between the two regional rivals but Hercules are a club who really should be higher up Spain’s football ladder. Based in Alicante, the country’s 11th largest city and with a stadium which holds almost 30,000, Hercules followers certainly do not view themselves as inferior to their rivals in nearby Elche, less than 30 km away. Both clubs have spent 20+ seasons in the top flight but it’s now nearly 40 years since this derby was played out at the highest level.
Derbi de la Comunitat
Valencia vs Villarreal
For basically the entire 20th Century, Valencia had things almost all their own way in their region of Spain. While city rivals Levante have become a more regular top flight fixture in recent years, regional neighbours Villarreal have been the team to emerge as their main 21st Century rivals in the Valencian Community, eclipsing the likes of Elche, Hercules and CD Castellon.
The Yellow Submarine have risen from virtually nowhere, admittedly with the help of some significant financial backing, to take the fight to Valencia, regularly finishing above and beating their big city neighbours. They’ve even started pinching their players with Dani Parejo, arguably Valencia’s best player at the time, moving to the Ceramica in 2020. A year later, Villarreal won their first trophy – the 2020/21 Europa League.
Heading into the 2024/25 season, the sides are more evenly matched with just four points between them last term, but under the unpopular ownership of Peter Lim, it may still be a long time before Valencia get back to their former standing in the Spanish and European game.
Spanish Football Derbies – The Best of the Rest
Big derby matches are often the most difficult games to get LaLiga tickets for, but there are plenty of smaller derbies to experience that mean the world to supporters all around Spain.
Other notable ones include the South Madrid derby between Getafe and Leganes which will be a top flight fixture against this season. While the clubs are small, there is no love lost between the two sets of fans with just 5 km separating the two stadiums. Geographically speaking, the derby in the city of Valencia is the closest in Spain’s top two leagues, although it’s off the menu again for 2024/25 with Levante in the second tier.
Meanwhile, sizable cities such as Salamanca, Murcia and Jerez de la Frontera have witnessed their main clubs go bust in recent years, with more than one new entity rising from the ashes. That has led to the emergence of several new derbies, with splits even created between fans who used to cheer on the same side.