[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] He spent the better part of his professional career in La Liga with Mallorca, appearing in 196 official games, and also played several years with Borussia Mönchengladbach for which he signed at the age of 29.

Pachuca and Puebla FC, until 2004, when he joined La Liga side RCD Mallorca in Spain (coached by Benito Floro, also his boss at Monterrey) on a one-year link, with an option for a further three.

He fell unconscious, broke his cheekbone, swallowed his tongue and got serious cuts in his face;[12][13] he returned to play a month later and, in the following season, was the team's top scorer with 11 league goals.

On 9 March 2008, he scored his first hat-trick for Mallorca, in a 7–1 home thrashing of Recreativo de Huelva, with teammate Dani Güiza – who finished as the campaign's Pichichi – adding two;[15] he only missed one league game from 2005 to 2008 combined.

[17] On 10 December 2012, Gladbach manager Lucien Favre hailed Arango as one of the best left-footed players in the world, after the Venezuelan scored a 48-yard stunner in a 2–0 defeat of 1.

[23] In April of the following year, he was handed a two-match ban by the Mexican Football Federation after footage showed him biting Monterrey player Jesús Zavala in an action that eluded the referee.

In the 2011 Copa América in Argentina, he helped the Vinotinto to a best-ever fourth-place finish in the continental competition, scoring in the third-place match, a 1–4 loss against Peru[29] for what was his 100th cap.