Clubs Outside the Mainland in the Spanish Pyramid
We know about Las Palmas and Mallorca, but what do you know about these clubs?
Spanish football is full of beautiful stories. Unfortunately, people who don’t follow the lower leagues in the country may never get to hear them.
There are clubs from towns outside the mainland participating in the Spanish football pyramid. Some are in Spain’s autonomous cities, while others aren’t even part of the country!
We know about UD Las Palmas and CD Tenerife in the Canary Islands and RCD Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, as they have had large stints in the first division, but are there any others?
FC Andorra
First up is FC Andorra. The club is in the small country of Andorra which is located between Spain and France. Languages spoken in the region are Catalan, Spanish and French.
FC Andorra was founded in 1942 and has been in the Spanish football league system since 1948.
FC Barcelona legend Gerard Piqué purchased the club in 2018. Andorra was competing in the regional first division of Catalonia at that time but has since been promoted to the second division.
The 2025-26 campaign will be the club’s third season participating in the second tier. All three years in the second division have been under Piqué’s ownership.
Some players who have played for the club are Mika Mármol, Álex Valle, Iker Benito and Sergi Samper.
There is an Andorran first division called the Primera Divisió. It was founded in 1995 and gained UEFA club competition access one year later.
AD Ceuta FC
Another club that was promoted into the second division of Spain this past season is AD Ceuta FC.
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain on the Strait of Gibraltar. It is located on the continent of Africa.
The club was founded in 1956 after two clubs merged.
This past season, AD Ceuta FC finished first in Group 2 of the third division (Primera RFEF). The club beat Cultural Leonesa, who finished first in Group 1, in the Primera Federacion final to become the undisputed third division champion.
With the promotion, Ceuta will be playing in the second tier of Spanish football for the first time since the 1967-68 season.
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UD Melilla
Still in Africa more than 245 miles east of Ceuta is the autonomous city of Melilla. In it resides the fourth division side UD Melilla.
Like Ceuta, Melilla was founded in 1976 after two clubs merged. It immediately started in the fourth division.
The club earned promotion to the third tier after finishing third in the 1986-87 season. Thirty-five years later, UD Melilla finished first, earning promotion to the second division. Melilla was relegated the season after.
After finishing in 11th this past season, the club looks to have a better year and fight for promotion again.
Very nice piece, thanks for sharing about the clubs that are based in Morocco.
Quite understandably, I doubt that most people realize that the Spaniards still possess territory on the continent (if it wasn’t for the sport, I’m not sure that I would know—which is one of the main reasons that I love the opportunity to learn more about people and the world that sport provides).
FC Granada is on the mainland but that is another fascinating club. Sad that it has been relegated to 2nd Division but the story of how it came to have a Chinese owner and its travails, should be interesting!