From a very young age, he was interested in learning to play various musical instruments such as piano, classical guitar, flamenco guitar, and acoustic guitar, and attended singing lessons with professional artists in Málaga and Madrid. In 2002, at the age of 12, he composed his first songs, “Amor de Barrio” (Neighbourhood Love) and “Desencuentro” (Disagreement) which would be featured 10 years later on his debut album. In Málaga he performed for the first time with a Flamenco band in a restaurant, and he was nicknamed El Blanco Moreno (The White Moreno), because he “was very pale-skinned and Moreno was my family name”, as he stated in an interview in early 2011. Later, Pablo met producer Manuel Illán and recorded a demo, which included a cover of “Deja de Volverme Loca” (Stop Driving Me Crazy) by Diana Navarro. Upon hearing this recording, Navarro expressed great interest in Alborán and became his musical mentor.

“Solamente Tú” (Only You) was digitally released in Spain in October 2010 as the first single of his debut album, which was released in February 2011. Both the single and the album were a huge success, managing to top the Spanish music charts for several consecutive weeks. The album won multiple awards, including RTVE’s Album of the Year for 2011, and became Spain’s best-selling album of that year.

Alborán began his first world tour on 27 May 2011 in Madrid at the Palacio Vistalegre, and has since performed in many Latin American countries, among which are Argentina, Chile and Mexico. Following his success, he released his first live album, En Acústico, in November of the same year. It included acoustic versions of most of the tracks in his debut album, as well as two new songs and four bonus tracks. The song “Perdóname” (Forgive Me) was re-recorded featuring Portuguese singer Carminho, and was released as the first single of the album, peaking at number one on the Spanish singles chart on 13 November 2011, thus helping En Acústico to debut also at number one on the albums chart one week later, on 20 November 2011, and to top the Portuguese Albums Chart in January 2012.

On 19 December 2011, Alborán received the 2011 Best New Act award in Los Premios 40 Principales. Both his albums Pablo Alborán and En Acústico were featured in Spain’s official list of top-selling albums of 2011, at number 1 and number 6, respectively, and singles “Solamente Tú” and “Perdóname” were the respective third and nineteenth best-selling songs in Spain in 2011.

In January 2012, Alborán collaborated on the charity single, “Cuestión de Prioridades por el Cuerno de África” (A matter of priorities for the horn of Africa).

In September 2012, Alborán released the lead single “Tanto” from his forthcoming album Tanto which was released in November 2012. The album was certified 10× Platinum in Spain and was the highest selling album in Spain in 2012 and 2013. The album included two number one singles in Spain, “El Beso” (The Kiss) and “Quién” (Who). The album received Latin Grammy Awards.

Alborán released his third studio album Terral in November 2014. The album became his fourth straight number 1 album in Spain and has been certified 8× Platinum. It was the highest selling album in Spain in 2014.

In April 2016, “Se Puede Amar” was released, which is the first single of the forthcoming fourth studio album. Throughout 2016, Alborán toured Central America. In August, Alboran re-released “”Dónde está el Amor” with Brazilian singer Tiê. It was included in the telenovela soundtrack Haja Coração.

On 8 September 2017, after a two-year break, Alborán announced on his social networks that he was finishing preparing what would be his fourth studio album, Prometo. He released two singles (“Saturno” and “No Vaya a Ser”) on the same day. “Saturno” is a ballad, reminiscent of his beginnings as a singer, while “No Vaya a Ser” is a different style flirting with electronics and African rhythms. Prometo was released on 17 November 2017 and debuted at number 1 in Spain.

Alborán revealed on 17 June 2020, through his Instagram account, that he is gay.