Juanito was born in
Málaga,
Andalusia. Earlier a
central defender, he grew through the ranks of hometown's
Málaga CF, making his
La Liga debut on 1 September 2002 in a 3–2 away win against neighbours
Recreativo de Huelva. He then spent one season each with
Deportivo Alavés and
Real Sociedad, with both teams eventually being relegated to the
Segunda División. Juanito joined
UD Almería in
2007–08, where he was successfully reconverted into a
defensive midfielder, being an important first-team member over two top-flight campaigns. In August 2009 he returned to Málaga, replacing
Lolo, a player who occupied his same positions and had returned from his loan to neighbouring
Sevilla FC. Juanito's first game in his second spell was on
2009–10's opener, starting in a 3–0 home victory over
Atlético Madrid. He finished the season with 30 matches – 25 starts – as the side narrowly avoided relegation after a 17th-place. In December 2010, shortly after the arrival of manager
Manuel Pellegrini, Juanito was deemed surplus to requirements alongside five other players. On 4 January 2011 he was released by Málaga with
Albert Luque and, 11 days later, he returned to former club Almería, signing a five-month contract. Juanito made his competitive debut on 19 January 2011, in a 3–2 win at
Deportivo de La Coruña (4–2 on aggregate) which meant the side
reached the semi-finals of the
Copa del Rey for the first time ever. In July, after they were
relegated from the top tier, he was released, going on to spend two years in the
Super League Greece with
Asteras Tripolis F.C. and retire afterwards, aged 33. On 14 June 2016, Juanito returned to Almería as
Fernando Soriano's assistant manager. ==Honours==