Real Madrid Club de Fútbol was founded on 6 March 1902 in Madrid, Spain, growing out of a loose association of football enthusiasts who had gathered in the city since the late 1890s. The club adopted white as its home colour from the outset, and in 1920 King Alfonso XIII bestowed the title 'Real' — meaning Royal — upon the club, a name it has carried ever since. The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium has been the club's home since 1947.
The defining chapter of Real Madrid's early history came under president Santiago Bernabéu, who took charge in 1943 and oversaw a transformation that made the club a continental force. Driven by the brilliance of Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskás, Francisco Gento, and Raymond Kopa, the club won the European Cup five consecutive times between 1956 and 1960, then added a sixth in 1966. Domestic dominance ran in parallel: twelve La Liga titles in sixteen seasons during that period. This era is widely referred to as the Época Dorada — the Golden Age.
A second era of sustained success arrived in the late 1980s through a generation of academy graduates known as the Quinta del Buitre, who delivered five consecutive La Liga titles. From 2000 onward, a policy of assembling world-renowned signings — labelled the Galácticos era — brought further Champions League titles, and the club went on to win the competition three consecutive times between 2016 and 2018, a feat it had achieved once before in its founding dynasty.
As of 2024, Real Madrid have claimed 36 La Liga titles and 15 UEFA Champions League / European Cup titles, the most in both competitions. Their longest-running rivalry is El Clásico with FC Barcelona; the city derby against Atlético Madrid is another fixture that defines the club's identity in the Spanish football landscape.