Women’s football in Spain surges as icons, titles and investment reshape the game | OneFootball

Women’s football in Spain has accelerated, powered by role models, elite success and new structures, Superdeporte reports. Participation and crowds are rising.

Alexia Putellas won consecutive Ballons d’Or in 2021 and 2022 as Barcelona lifted the UEFA Women’s Champions League in 2021, 2023 and 2024.

Aitana Bonmatí added the 2023 Ballon d’Or and FIFA’s The Best, while Spain claimed a first Women’s World Cup that summer, defeating England through Olga Carmona, then the 2024 UEFA Women’s Nations League.

In 2022, more than 91,000 watched a women’s Champions League tie at Camp Nou, a landmark crowd.

In the Comunitat Valenciana, the Federación de Futbol de la Comunitat Valenciana logged 135,980 total licences in 2024/25. Its Valenta programme has grown from about 3,800 licences in 2018 to nearly 14,000.

More than 20,000 attended Levante versus Valencia at the Ciutat de València in 2018, and over 10,500 were at Mestalla in 2024, while world champion Ivana Andrés and goalkeeper Enith Salón provide local references.

Nationally, female registrations climbed from 39,023 in 2012 to 109,874 in 2024, passing 100,000 for the first time after a rise of more than 60% in two seasons, from 67,149 in 2021 to 107,853 in 2023.

Growth reflects professionalisation via Liga F, increased investment and public support, plus broadcast and sponsorship income. The challenge is consolidation, with sustained audiences, stable finances and better conditions beyond the elite, as cultural change gathers pace and one in three women passes on her passion.

Source: Superdeporte