Born in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, Andalusia, Nolito began his career with UD Algaida in his hometown before joining Atlético Sanluqueño in 2000.

[12] In late May 2011, Nolito rejected Barcelona's offer of a professional contract and instead signed a five-year deal with Portuguese club Benfica, effective as of 1 July.

[17] Nolito returned to his country and his native region on 29 January 2013, being loaned to Granada for six months and a fee of €600,000, without the possibility of making the move permanent in June.

[18][19] In his first match, four days after signing, he took the corner which resulted in Cristiano Ronaldo's own goal for the game's only, giving Granada their first win over Real Madrid in 40 years.

[20][21] Nolito signed with Celta de Vigo on 1 July 2013, penning a four-year deal and reuniting with former Barcelona B boss Luis Enrique.

[34] Three days later he scored his first goal, and also provided an assist to Sergio Agüero in a 5–0 away rout of Steaua București in the Champions League play-off round.

His Sevilla contract was set to expire at the end of the month, and the former were granted an emergency exception to acquire him outside of the transfer window because of a long-term injury to goalkeeper Sergio Álvarez.

On 7 November 2014, he was called up by full side manager Vicente del Bosque for a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Belarus and a friendly with Germany.

[51] Selected for the squad of 23,[52] Nolito acted often as starter, scoring from close range in a 3–0 group stage victory over Turkey at the Stade de Nice and also assisting Álvaro Morata for the opener.