Micaela Portilla completed her first studies at the Colegio del Niño Jesús in Vitoria and in 1933 went to the secondary school in the same city.

[1] Portilla began her professional career as an elementary and vocational school teacher in various locations in the province of Álava (Aramaiona and Salvatierra) and finally in Vitoria.

[1] In the words of Henrike Knörr, professor of Basque philology, Portilla was not only an outstanding historian but was also a great disseminator who was always full of enthusiasm.

"[1] She was a corresponding member of the Royal Academies of Fine Arts and History, and she was the first woman to receive an honorable doctorate from the University of the Basque Country.

[1][2] The importance of her ethnographic contributions is such that the Basque organization, Eusko Ikaskuntza, and the Real Sociedad de Amigos (Royal Society of Friends) of the Basque Country organized a conference in her honor in February 2007 with the participation of the Sancho el Sabio Foundation, the Provincial Council of Álava and the City Council of Vitoria.