He is a full professor of Art History in the University of Málaga. He has been invited to take part in numerous research projects, and has been the recipient of many others. Furthermore, he has taught courses and given talks while residing as a visiting scholar in Spanish and foreign universities, in addition to giving frequent presentations at national and international conferences.

He is an Honorary Citizen of Mobile and of New Orleans in the United States of America; Corresponding Academic of the Royal Academy of Fine Art of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary in Seville; Member-at-Large of the Spanish Society of Emblems, and tenured academic of the Andalusian Academy of History.

His research activities are manifold, having organized national and international exhibitions and conferences, and having published numerous books and articles on the artistic heritage of Málaga and its Historical Gardens. Particularly noteworthy are his studies on Latin American art, a subject about which he has published books and articles concerning urban planning, iconography, and emblem studies. The following are some of his most significant publications: Arquitectura y urbanismo hispanoamericano en Luisiana y Florida Occidental (1987), Los Gálvez de Macharaviaya (1992), Cultura simbólica y arte efímero en la Nueva España (1991), Tunja. Atenas del Renacimiento en el Nuevo Reino de Granada (1998), La construcción de la utopía. El proyecto de Felipe II para Hispanoamérica (2001), Las sibilas en el arte de la Edad Moderna. Europa Mediterránea y Nueva España (2007).