The race for the XXXII Spanish Bowl starts: LNFA 2026
- David Pinto Maeso
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
Last weekend kicked off the 32nd LNFA season, and it's a very special one after the first NFL regular season game in Spanish history:
For those who don't know, Spain is the first league to kickoff the European calendar each year. And while we don't have the National Football League (NFL), we do have its Spanish counterpart: the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Americano (LNFA). This is a very special season after the first NFL regular season game in the history of the country, while we are seeing a bump in football interest.
Although American football arrived here in the 1950s with the arrival of American military bases, the Spanish league as we know it today was born on January 14th, 1995. 31 seasons later, Spanish football has seen its ups and downs, but the important thing is that it's still here.
Thus, this past Saturday 17th the top-level competition started after the LNFA2 got underway last week. On the debut day of this year's competition, the Spanish characteristic sun was nowhere near to be seen, and let's say the games were… watery.
It seems a format has finally been more or less established, because sometimes the FEFA (Spanish Federation of American Football) does whatever it wants, and this time, 10 teams will once again compete at the highest national level.
Who makes up the league?
The Western Conference features the three-time defending champions and current national leaders, Las Rozas Black Demons. Joining them in the conference are several long-standing teams, including Osos de Rivas, Camioneros de Coslada, Gijón Mariners, and Zaragoza Hurricanes, who have moved from the East to the West this year.
The Eastern Conference boasts the most successful team in league history, Badalona Dracs, last year's runners-up and 11-time champions. The other teams in the division are Mallorca Voltors, Terrassa Reds (last season's surprise package), L'Hospitalet Pioners, and the newly promoted Valencia Firebats, who won the LNFA2 (second division).
I personally played against the Firebats in last year’s LNFA2 final and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that they are a force to be reckoned with. They will definitely make a lot of heads turn this season.
The regular season consists of ten matchdays, running until the end of March. The top two teams from each conference advance directly to the semifinals, which will be played as single-elimination games. The grand final, our Super Bowl, (you guessed it) the Spanish Bowl, is scheduled for the weekend of May 9th and 10th. This sets the stage for the subsequent start of the ELF (EFA, AFLE or whatever it ends up being this year) with the Madrid Bravos.
A rainy Week 1
The 4 games of Week 1 were played yesterday and we can already see the contenders, upsets, and a couple of teams that are going to make a lot of heads turn. These are the scores of the first weekend of the LNFA 2026:
I want to start with the best game of the day; Osos de Rivas facing the Zaragoza Hurricanes at home. The score ended 14-7 in favor of the locals in a match that was definitely a thriller marked by two names: Micaiah Quick, Osos WR, and Juan Baro, Hurricanes young QB.
Rivas has entered the season with a lot of question marks as they are in a state of transition after a lot of key pieces of the team have either retired, or moved to rivals like their neighbours Camioneros de Coslada. But it seems they have found a gem in former Oklahoma Sooner WR Micaiah Quick, who had an amazing debut in Spain hauling the game-winning 52 yd TD in the 3rd quarter, as this was a low scoring encounter.
The QB for Rivas and former Michigan Wolverine Anthony Arnou, had a good game throwing for 2 TDs, but had what could have been a costly interception inside the ‘Canes redzone as he is still adapting to European Ball. Still, he showcased an absolute cannon of an arm. One of the best, if not the best, deep ball in Spain this year.
On the other side, the Zaragoza Hurricanes ended last year on a pretty high note after a rocky season. They actually beat the Osos, and came to Madrid looking for that again. They are the team that has invested the most in Mexican talent this year as they have signed a couple of ONEFA veterans for the OL. And it made a huge impact on the field, protecting and creating holes for Juan Baro, the youngest QB in the league and a Spanish rising star that just came back from playing for the Gyor Sharks in Hungary.
He was the heart of the offense, as it seemed they could not stop his scrambles and QB runs. Although in the end, they couldn’t score more than one time, but it is a promising start for the team that is hungry to do more than last year.
Next we have a strong performance from the back to back to back champions in Spain, the Las Rozas Black Demons. There is not much to be said about the game, but one of the storylines of the season is that Las Rozas is playing with the absence of imports. Instead of Canadian QB Theo Landers, the core of the offense this past couple of years, they are playing with former long-time Mallorca Voltors and now Madrid Bravos QB Diego Lliteras, very well known in the Spanish football landscape. Will the Demons be able to come out on top again with an almost full roster of Spaniards?
About the Mariners I do want to highlight something. That is QB Justin Agner (former Dresden Monarchs) and WR James Payton (first-timer in Europe). Their import connection showed some great flashes and the Mariners offense was able to move the chains constantly in very bad situations. Their only TD came from a fourth and very long from Agner to Spanish RB Iraola. This game showed that the American duo can cause some serious damage in the league.
This was, by far, the rainiest game of the week, and of the “worst” conditions I have seen for a football game in a long time. Also, we have the first upset of the season, as the Pioners, with a great import class, were expected to beat the newly-promoted Firebats. In terms of football… there wasn’t much of that. Short passes, a lot of runs, a few medium connections and turnovers. Still an entertaining game in a muddy…very very muddy field that came down to the wire.
At the end, the visitors, who ended last season unbeaten in the LNFA2, have come to play with the big boys with the same core of players they had before, something not very common these days.
To conclude, we have another game with pouring rain, but this one is much more one-sided. The Badalona Dracs hosted the Mallorca Voltors to open the season and they don’t want to make the same mistakes as in the past. Last year we had one of the upsets of the century in Spain when Mallorca beat Badalona for the first time in history (24-22) as this was the Dracs’ only loss of the regular season (7-1). Now they have demonstrated that they are contenders and that they want to be crowned Spanish champions for the 12th time. Their only obstacle? They are the same as in the last 2 finals; the Demons.
As for Mallorca, last season had its ups and downs with a 3-5 record. They have lost their starting QB Lliteras to Las Rozas, but to make up for it they have signed one of the most interesting import classes in the league with Americans Austin Brock, on of the best WR prospects in Europe that just played for the Unicorns in Germany, and Malik Brown, a savvy QB veteran in Europe with with very dangerous athleticism.
Every week a game will be streamed
I know, it should be a lot more, but at least one game per week, a game will be streamed by the professional production team of Live Vuvuzela, with whom the FEFA has been working for some years now. Every team can (and probably will, as always) stream their games on their respective channels if they want. The ones streamed by FEFA will be on their YouTube.
This is thanks to the support of the Spanish National Sports Council (CSD). Other events of Flag Football and some important games of the LNFA2 will also be streamed.
This week, the production team traveled to Gijón, to Las Mestas Stadium, the new house of the Gijón Mariners. Weeks 2 streamed game still has to be announced by Vuvuzela.