Between 1974 and 1979, Trueba worked as a film critic for Spain's leading daily newspaper El País.

In 1994, Trueba accepted the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film on behalf of Spain for Belle Époque.

[3] In 1999, The Girl of Your Dreams was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival.

[4] In 2011 he won the Award of the Hungarian National Student Jury for Chico and Rita at the 7th Festival of European Animated Feature Films and TV Specials.

[6] He is married to producer Cristina Huete,[7] and he is the father of director Jonás Trueba.