He received the 1991 Premio Planeta, the 2013 Jerusalem Prize, and the 2013 Prince of Asturias Award for literature.

In 1987 Muñoz Molina was awarded Spain's National Narrative Prize for El invierno en Lisboa (translated as Winter in Lisbon), a homage to the genres of film noir and jazz music.

[1] Muñoz Molina is married to the Spanish author and journalist, Elvira Lindo.

He currently resides in New York City, United States, where he served as the director of the Instituto Cervantes from 2004 to 2005.

[2] Isabelle Gugnon's French translation of Muñoz Molina's novel Un andar solitario entre la gente won the 2020 Prix Médicis étranger.