He was in the starting line-up for the home leg of Mallorca's UEFA Intertoto Cup tie against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț of Romania at Estadio de San Moix, which ended 2–1 to the Spanish side.
[6] He also received a second European call-up to the first team, being named as a substitute for the home leg of their UEFA Cup third round tie against Czech side Slovan Liberec.
[1] He made his debut in the Copa del Rey last 32 tie on 11 September: Albacete hosted Eibar at Estadio Carlos Belmonte and lost 2–1.
He was not a first choice during his first season, and didn't make his league debut until 21 December, when he came on with 19 minutes to play in the 3–3 draw with Compostela at Estadio Vero Boquete de San Lázaro.
This gave Buades the chance to make his La Liga debut during the 2003–04 season, which he duly did on 26 October in a 3–2 loss to Real Betis at Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera.
However, Buades had a good season, playing in 32 matches and scoring his first La Liga goals - in the 3–2 loss to Osasuna at Estadio El Sadar on 17 October, and the 1–1 home draw with Getafe on 21 November.