Born in
Maliaño,
Cantabria, Arteche began playing professionally with local
Racing de Santander after starting in
basketball and
tennis. He made his debut in the
1976–77 season and appeared in 16
La Liga games as the club finished 15th, barely avoiding relegation. After one more year with Racing, Arteche signed for
Atlético Madrid, being an undisputed starter early on as well as
captain. In
1984–85, he helped the
Colchoneros to the second position in the league only behind champions
FC Barcelona and
that campaign's
Copa del Rey; subsequently, they
reached the
final of the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, a 3–0 loss against
FC Dynamo Kyiv. After only two matches in
1988–89, mainly due to serious personal problems with elusive Atlético chairman
Jesús Gil, Arteche chose to retire at 32. ==International career==