Spanish third tier confirms east-west split for 2025-26 football season

The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has confirmed that the participating clubs in the 2025-26 Primera RFEF season will be split along an east-west divide, departing from the more familiar north-south format used in recent years.

As a result, Antequera CF, Juventud de Torremolinos and Marbella FC will compete in Group 2 of the Spanish third tier alongside the other four Andalusian sides in the division: Sevilla Atlético, Betis B, Atlético Sanluqueño and Algeciras.

They will also face clubs from Murcia (Cartagena and Murcia), the Valencia region (Eldense, Hércules and Villarreal B), Aragón (Tarazona and Teruel), Catalonia (Gimnàstic, Europa and Sabadell), the Balearic Islands (Ibiza) and Madrid (Alcorcón and Atlético B).

Group 1, meanwhile, will include Tenerife, Mérida, Cacereño, Arenas, Athletic B, Barakaldo, Osasuna B and a wide selection of clubs from Galicia, Asturias, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha and Real Madrid's Castilla side.

The RFEF explained in a statement: "The RFEF submitted several proposals to the regional federations who returned them with their observations. The Presidents’ Committee, meeting this Thursday [19 June] in Las Rozas, reduced the options and offered two balanced choices to the clubs."

In Segunda RFEF, Malaga’s representatives remain in Group 4. Atlético Malagueño and Estepona will be joined by La Unión Atlético, whose transfer from Murcia to the Costa del Sol was approved by the Andalusian Football Federation assembly on Saturday.

Their rivals include five teams from Murcia (UCAM Murcia, Águilas, Minera, Yeclano and Lorca), eight from Andalucía (Almería B, Linares, Jaén, Puente Genil, Antoniano, Xerez CD, Xerez Deportivo and Recreativo de Huelva), plus Melilla and Extremadura.