1996–97 La Liga
The 1996–97 La Liga season was the 66th since its establishment. It began on 31 August 1996, and concluded on 23 June 1997. Five clubs were relegated to the Segunda División at the end of the season, as the number of La Liga clubs was reduced to 20 starting from the following season. This was thus the last La Liga season played with 22 teams.
Promotion and relegation
Teams promoted from 1995–96 Segunda DivisiónTeams relegated to 1996–97 Segunda División
Team information
Clubs and locations
1996–97 season was composed of the following clubs:| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
| Barcelona | Camp Nou | 98,772 |
| Real Madrid | Santiago Bernabéu | 80,354 |
| Atlético Madrid | Vicente Calderón | 55,005 |
| Valencia | Mestalla | 55,000 |
| Real Betis | Benito Villamarín | 52,132 |
| Sevilla | Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán | 45,500 |
| Espanyol | Sarrià | 44,000 |
| Athletic Bilbao | San Mamés | 39,750 |
| Deportivo de La Coruña | Riazor | 34,600 |
| Real Zaragoza | La Romareda | 34,596 |
| Celta de Vigo | Balaídos | 32,500 |
| Real Sociedad | Anoeta | 32,200 |
| Hércules | José Rico Pérez | 29,500 |
| Valladolid | José Zorrilla | 27,846 |
| Sporting de Gijón | El Molinón | 25,885 |
| Real Oviedo | Carlos Tartiere | 23,500 |
| Tenerife | Heliodoro Rodríguez López | 22,824 |
| Racing de Santander | El Sardinero | 22,222 |
| Logroñés | Las Gaunas | 16,000 |
| Rayo Vallecano | Vallecas | 14,708 |
| Compostela | San Lázaro | 12,000 |
| Extremadura | Francisco de la Hera | 11,580 |
- It was the last season with 22 teams in La Liga. To reduce the number of teams in the league, the last four teams, CF Extremadura, Sevilla FC, Hércules CF and CD Logroñés, were relegated and the fifth-to-last team, Rayo Vallecano, played a relegation playoff and was also relegated.
League table
Attendances
Source:| # | Club | Avg. attendance | Highest |
| 1 | FC Barcelona | 86,429 | 115,000 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 85,429 | 110,000 |
| 3 | Sevilla FC | 44,436 | 71,114 |
| 4 | Valencia CF | 42,624 | 50,000 |
| 5 | Real Betis | 40,786 | 47,500 |
| 6 | Athletic Club | 38,743 | 44,000 |
| 7 | Atlético de Madrid | 32,238 | 52,000 |
| 8 | Real Zaragoza | 28,000 | 35,000 |
| 9 | Deportivo de La Coruña | 23,571 | 33,000 |
| 10 | RCD Espanyol | 22,343 | 40,000 |
| 11 | Real Sociedad | 20,810 | 28,300 |
| 12 | Real Sporting de Gijón | 19,157 | 30,000 |
| 13 | Real Valladolid | 18,729 | 26,000 |
| 14 | Celta de Vigo | 17,595 | 30,000 |
| 15 | Racing de Santander | 17,000 | 21,000 |
| 16 | Hércules CF | 16,470 | 28,207 |
| 17 | CD Tenerife | 15,143 | 22,500 |
| 18 | Real Oviedo | 14,483 | 23,500 |
| 19 | CD Logroñés | 12,500 | 18,000 |
| 20 | Extremadura CF | 10,380 | 15,000 |
| 21 | SD Compostela | 9,714 | 14,000 |
| 22 | Rayo Vallecano | 8,738 | 13,000 |