A graduate in Philosophy from the Complutense University of Madrid, he is a writer and philosopher. A Marxist by training and on the left, he has had philosophical, anthropological and political essays published, such as Dejar de pensar (1986) and Volver a pensar (1989), written with Carlos Fernández Liria; Las reglas del caos: Apuntes para una antropología del mercado (1995), a runner-up for the Anagrama Essay Award; Leer con niños (2007), and, more recently, Islamofobia: Nosotros, los otros, el miedo (2015) and Última hora: Los cuentos de Carne Cruda (2019).

Alba Rico is a columnist for Público, Revista Contexto and Cuarto Poder, among other media publications. He resides in Tunis, the city where he has devoted himself to analysing the contemporary world and interpreting the Arab world.