[1] He was the son of Manuel Lora-Tamayo, who served during the Francoist dictatorship as the Minister of Education from 1962 to 1968 and president of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) from 1967 to 1971.

[3] Prior to the completion of his doctorate, Lora-Tamayo worked at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), devoted in particular to microelectronics.

Following the 2002 Prestige oil spill, he served as president of the Scientific Advisory Committee convened by the Spanish government.

[3] Statements made by Lora-Tamayo in November 2014 describing the brain drain in Spain as an "exaggerated urban legend" caused unease in the Spanish scientific community due to the declining numbers of researchers in the CSIC and emigration to institutes abroad.

[7][8] Lora-Tamayo was also criticised for the abrupt dismissal of the director of the Estación Biológica de Doñana [es], Juan José Negro, ten months before the end of his mandate on 30 September 2015.

[15][16] During his academic career, he published over 100 articles in scientific journals and presented more than 150 papers at national and international conferences.