Atletico Madrid vs Las Palmas

Spanish football clubs have slashed their tax debts to around a third of their 650 million euros ($720 million) apex from three years ago, La Liga officials said on Tuesday.

Debt reduced to €230m

Full screen Atletico, who play at Vicente Calderon (above) are one of six clubs who owe 70% of Spanish football's total debt

First and second division clubs have a cumulative 230-million-euro debt to the Spanish government, with six clubs -- Atletico Madrid and Espanyol of La Liga and Valladolid, Mallorca, Zaragoza and Elche of the second tier -- responsible for over 70 percent of that sum.

Real Madrid, Barcelona owe nothing

Neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona owe any tax to the government.

"Thanks to a clean up in professional football the debt has been progressively reduced, as has global debt in the game," La Liga's internal affairs director Javier Gomez said.

The debtors have all been subject to La Liga safeguard measures and had negotiated gradual repayments with the tax authorities.

€50m by 2020

La Liga predicts the debt control measures now in place will see the debt reduced to 50 million euros by 2020.