In 1968, in Rome, Italy, Aitana started her journey in theater, where she engaged in significant activities, showcasing her work in productions like A puerta cerrada directed by Miguel Narros, La gata sobre el tejado de zinc caliente and Las criadas directed by Mario Gas. She frequently collaborated with Mario Vargas Llosa in plays such as Las mil noches y una noche, Odiseo y Penélope, and La verdad de las mentiras, directed by Joan Ollé. Notably, she triumphed in Un Dios Salvaje by Yasmina Reza, directed by Tamzin Townsend, and a year later, in 2011, in Santo, presented at Teatro Español and directed by Ernesto Caballero. Under Tamzin Townsend’s direction, she also performed in Babel by Andrew Bovell, La Chunga by Mario Vargas Llosa, and Capitalismo by Andrés Lima. Other noteworthy recent interpretations include Medea by Seneca, adapted and directed by Andres Lima; Las troyanas by Eurípides, adapted by Alberto Conejero and directed by Carme Portaceli, and La vuelta de Nora, also directed by Andrés Lima. In 2023 she starred alongside Marta Poveda in Malvivir, a highly acclaimed play by critics that has also been adapted for the small screen. Her latest work is La Madre, directed by Juan Carlos Fisher.

In television, her notable work includes the adaptation of Leopoldo Alas Clarín’s novel La Regenta (directed by Fernando Méndez-Leite), where she portrayed the tormented character Ana Ozores. In 2010, she starred in La viuda valenciana, an adaptation of the play by Lope de Vega. In 2013, she participated in the series Velvet as Doña Blanca. In 2019, she joined the cast of the TVE series Estoy vivo. Recently she has filmed the series Respira for Netflix.

In the film industry, she worked with renowned directors such as Fernando Fernán Gómez, Gonzalo Suárez, Fernando Colomo, Imanol Uribe, Jaime Chávarri, and others. During the 1990s, she participated in significant national projects such as Boca a boca with Javier Bardem, directed by Manuel Gómez Pereira; El pájaro de la felicidad by Pilar Miró, written by Mario Camus; and Celos by Vicente Aranda. On the international scene, she collaborated with Alfonso Arau in Un paseo por las nubes, where she shared the spotlight with Keanu Reeves. She also appeared in Love Walked in by Juan José Campanella, alongside figures like Denis Leary and Terence Stamp. She worked with Bigas Luna in the French co-production La camarera del Titanic, alongside Olivier Martínez. Two years later, she reunited with the renowned director for the movie Volaverunt, for which she received the Silver Shell for Best Actress at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. She also collaborated with the Oscar-winning director Luis Puenzo in La puta y la ballena, Koldo Serra in BackWoods, where she shared the screen with Gary Oldman and Virgine Ledoyen, and Gabriel Salvatores in No tengo Miedo. Aitana also appeared in El Maquinista by Brad Anderson, alongside Christian Bale, and Parlami d’amore by Silvio Muccino, among other noteworthy films. Among her recent works are Thi Mai by Patricia Ferreira, Madres paralelas by Pedro Almodóvar, La Jefa by Fran Torres, Que nadie duerma by Antonio Méndez Esparza, and Mi otro Jon by Paco Arango. In the spring of 2023, she films La costurera in Peru, directed by Daniel Rodríguez Risco. In the same year, she starts shooting the movie Tierra Baja, directed by Miguel Santesmases. It is a romantic drama in which Aitana plays the leading role of Carmen, a writer who will reunite with a past love.

For her leading role in Medea, Aitana received numerous accolades throughout the year 2015, including the CERES Award for Best Actress, the Fotogramas de Plata Award, the Valle-Inclán Award, and the MAX Award for Performing Arts. She also received the Fotogramas de Plata Award for Best Actress for her performance in La rosa tatuada. From 1998 to 2000, Aitana became the first woman to hold the position of President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Spain, which also honored her with the Gold Medal.