Spain La Liga 2 2026/27 Season Overview

The 2026/27 La Liga 2 season brings together three relegated clubs with sharply different rebuilding needs, four promoted teams following contrasting routes and several returning contenders separated by little last year.

RCD Mallorca, Girona FC and Real Oviedo arrive from La Liga.

UD Almería remain after losing the promotion playoff final, while Burgos CF missed the top six despite producing the strongest defensive record in the division.

Officially branded LALIGA HYPERMOTION, the 22-team competition begins on 14 August 2026.

The regular season runs until 6 June 2027, followed by the playoffs for the third and final promotion place.

Our separate Spain La Liga 2 Predictions 2026/27 article examines four long-term selections in greater detail.

Spain La Liga 2 Predictions 2026/27 Recommended

Every club plays each opponent once at home and once away.

The top two teams earn automatic promotion to La Liga. The clubs finishing third to sixth enter two-legged semifinals, followed by a two-legged final for the remaining promotion place.

The bottom four are relegated to Primera Federación.

Racing Santander won the 2025/26 title with 82 points.

Deportivo finished second with 77, while Málaga CF defeated UD Almería in the playoff final to secure the third promotion place.

Only two points separated Almería in third from Burgos in seventh.

Almería scored 81 goals, the second-highest total in the division, but conceded 63.

No other top-eight team allowed as many, leaving a clear imbalance between their attacking output and defensive control.

Burgos presented the opposite profile.

Their 33 goals conceded represented the league’s best defensive record, but 48 scored left them behind Castellón on the applicable tiebreak.

CD Mirandés, SD Huesca, Cultural Leonesa and Real Zaragoza occupied the four relegation places.

Squad information and confirmed transfers are accurate as of 7 August 2026, with the summer transfer window still open. 

Mallorca recorded the best results of the three relegated clubs.

They finished one point above Girona and 13 clear of Oviedo, giving new head coach Luis García Fernández the strongest recent competitive base.

The squad has nevertheless lost two major reference points.

Muriqi joined Fenerbahçe after scoring 23 of Mallorca’s 47 league goals, while Maffeo moved to Olympiacos after several seasons as the established right-back.

Adrián Fuentes arrives from Córdoba following a 14-goal campaign, and Arnau Puigmal brings further second-tier experience after making 47 appearances for Almería last season.

Those additions strengthen the squad without providing direct replacements for everything Mallorca have lost.

Muriqi offered more than finishing. His aerial presence, ability to occupy centre-backs and usefulness as an outlet shaped how Mallorca progressed the ball.

Maffeo’s departure also changes the structure on the right side.

Mallorca retain enough quality to challenge for automatic promotion, but their La Liga background does not remove the need to redistribute two important tactical roles.

Girona finished only one point behind Mallorca and remained involved in the survival contest until the final stage of the season. Their relegation did not reveal the same performance gap as Oviedo’s.

Quique Álvarez has stepped up from Girona B to lead the first team.

The appointment preserves knowledge of the club’s academy and playing structure, although it also places an immediate-promotion project in the hands of a coach moving up from reserve-team football.

Iván Morante has joined after making 75 appearances across two seasons with Burgos. Girona have also retained Cristhian Stuani for another year, preserving experience and leadership in attack.

Girona may have one of the division’s strongest squads, although further departures before the window closes could materially change their promotion prospects. 

Oviedo finished bottom, 13 points behind Mallorca, and scored only 26 goals in 38 matches. Their relegation requires a broader correction than those facing the other two clubs.

Julián Calero has been appointed until June 2027. Carlos Fernández has arrived from Real Sociedad after a productive loan spell with Mirandés, while Daniel Villahermosa adds another option following a strong season with FC Andorra.

The recruitment directly addresses the weakest area of last season’s team, but personnel alone will not solve the problem. Oviedo must establish a reliable attacking structure after averaging fewer than 0.7 goals per league match.

Mallorca and Girona return with a stronger recent base. Oviedo must first show that the summer rebuild has addressed the problems behind last season’s bottom-place finish.

Tenerife return with the clearest defensive identity among the promoted clubs.

By the time promotion was secured, Álvaro Cervera’s side had conceded only 20 goals in 35 matches and completed a 473-minute run without allowing one.

Cervera remained after relegation and guided the club back at the first attempt.

That continuity should help Tenerife remain competitive in close matches.

Their survival prospects will depend more on the other end of the pitch, where controlled performances must produce enough victories across a 42-game campaign.

Eldense won Group II and return to La Liga 2 after one season away.

Claudio Barragán remains in charge, retaining the coaching structure behind the promotion.

Eldense also have recent experience of La Liga 2 after spending the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons in the division.

Eldense are therefore less of an unknown than a first-time promoted side. The step up remains significant, but the club is not rebuilding its structure while attempting to adapt to the higher level.

Celta Fortuna secured the first La Liga 2 promotion in the team’s history. After drawing 0-0 away to Ponferradina, the reserve side won the second leg of the playoff final 4-1.

Celta Fortuna scored 61 goals during the regular season, one fewer than Tenerife.

Its composition, however, will remain connected to Celta Vigo’s first-team requirements.

Senior call-ups, outgoing loans and academy promotions can change a reserve team more quickly than a conventional squad.

Celta Fortuna enter with considerable potential but less personnel certainty than the other newcomers.

Sabadell returned to the second tier after overturning playoff deficits against Real Madrid Castilla and Zamora.

Their regular-season defence conceded 27 goals, the second-lowest total in Primera Federación. Ferran Costa remains in charge, preserving the leadership and organisation behind the promotion.

Sabadell’s structure gives them a credible starting point.

The question is whether that defensive record will translate to La Liga 2 against a higher standard of opposition.

Several clubs that remained in La Liga 2 enter the new season with realistic promotion ambitions.

Almería lead that group after finishing third last year, while Burgos, Las Palmas and Castellón also return from competitive 2025/26 campaigns. 

Almería enter the season with the strongest recent second-tier results among the clubs that remained in the division.

Their attack produced 81 goals and a third-place finish, but the playoff defeat exposed the cost of a team that allowed 63 at the other end.

García Pimienta has been appointed to create greater control without removing the qualities that made Almería dangerous.

Almería have responded with significant changes to the squad.

Mikel Vesga adds extensive top-flight experience in midfield, Jorge Pulido strengthens the central defensive options and Brian Cipenga provides another direct threat from wide areas.

Quim Junyent and Álex Sola have also joined, while André Horta and Miguel de la Fuente have become permanent members of the squad.

Dion Lopy’s move to Al-Ittihad removes a regular midfielder after 105 appearances for Almería.

Almería have the depth to challenge for the title, but García Pimienta must integrate several arrivals and improve a defence that conceded 63 league goals last season.

Burgos require improvement rather than reinvention.

Their defensive organisation was strong enough to produce 72 points and keep them in the playoff race until the final round.

The problem was a lack of attacking production compared with the teams immediately above them.

Sergio Francisco inherits that foundation from the previous coaching staff. His task is to add variation in possession without opening spaces that Burgos previously protected well.

Morante’s move to Girona creates an additional complication.

Burgos must replace a regular midfielder while adapting to a new coach, but their underlying defensive level gives them a credible route back into the top six.

UD Las Palmas and CD Castellón both reached last season’s playoffs and remain relevant contenders.

Las Palmas finished only one point behind Almería, while Castellón matched Burgos on 72 points and secured sixth place through the tiebreak.

Real Sporting, SD Eibar, Granada, Real Valladolid, Leganés and Cádiz add further depth to a division in which established clubs can quickly move between mid-table and the playoff race.

The relegated teams will attract much of the attention, but recent La Liga status alone offers no guarantee.

Almería, Las Palmas, Castellón and Burgos already have evidence that they can collect promotion-level points across a full second-tier season.

All kick-off times are Spanish peninsular time. The schedule remains subject to official changes.

All four promoted clubs begin away from home. Eldense visit Almería, Tenerife travel to Eibar, Celta Fortuna face Cádiz and Sabadell open at Sporting.

Mallorca, Girona and Oviedo each begin at home under a new head coach.

Celta Fortuna and R. Sociedad B cannot be promoted while Celta Vigo and Real Sociedad remain in La Liga.

Neither reserve team can accept an automatic-promotion place or participate in the promotion playoffs while its senior side remains in La Liga.

Any such place occupied by an ineligible reserve team would be allocated according to the applicable RFEF competition rules.

Their results still carry full competitive value. Both teams can take points from promotion contenders and affect which eligible clubs finish in the top six, even though they cannot complete the final step themselves.

The complete argument for each selection is available in our Spain La Liga 2 Predictions 2026/27 article.