[1] He became a judge in 1962,[2] and in 1970 became a magistrate of administrative disputes, presiding over courts in Valencia, Albacete and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

[3] During the same decade, he formed part of Justicia Democrática, a movement composed of lawyers and other legal professionals in opposition to Franco's dictatorship in Spain and in favour of democracy.

[3] After the end of Franco's dictatorship, Sala became a member of the professional association Judges for Democracy until he took up his post as the President of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary.

In a 2013 interview with Escritura Pública, a Spanish magazine related to law and the legal profession, Sala spoke of his concern about the politicisation of the court, saying that "the necessary institutional respect has sometimes become unknown to politicians who criticise decisions they do not approve of that the Court takes, confounding legitimate criticism with discreting, and even sometimes with insult".

[26] The next year, on 13 September 1996, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Raymond of Peñafort.