The and tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is divided in two sections per season, each with its own champion. and are the Spanish words for "opening" and "closing". In French-speaking Haiti, these are known as the and the , while in English-speaking Belize, they are respectively the Opening and Closing seasons. When used in the United States and Canada, they are known as the Spring and Fall seasons. The Americas The is held in the first half of the calendar year in Bolivia, Colombia, Haiti, Paraguay and Uruguay while it is held in the second half of the calendar year in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua. The words and are used in most Latin American countries. Some, however, use different terminology: Colombia: and Costa Rica: and (Spanish for "winter" and "summer"); until the 2016–17 season. In most leagues, each tournament constitutes a national championship in itself. On the other hand, in the leagues of Nicaragua, Peru, and Uruguay, the winners of the and play each other in a playoff for the season title, or there is a final stage where teams qualify based on placements in the and . Thus, two championship titles are awarded per year in the first group of leagues, and only one in the second. In Mexico and Colombia, for instance, the winners of each tournament play each other at the beginning of the following season for another title, but this is a rather minor season curtain-raiser, akin to national Super Cups in European leagues. Some and tournaments also have second stages to decide the winner. In leagues with 12 or fewer teams, each and has a double round-robin format, as a means to fill in the gaps caused by the lack of elimination cup competitions as in most European countries. In leagues with 16 or more teams, each tournament has a single round-robin format. Relegations, if any, are done on an aggregate basis; usually the combined table for both tournaments determine relegation placements. In some leagues, the average points over the previous two or three seasons are used to determine relegation. Peru abolished its and format after the 2008 season but brought it back for the 2014 season. Ecuador adopted the and in