Francisco Javier Raya Buenache was born on 20 April 1991 in Madrid. He studied ballet from the age of six until he was 17. He is studying audiovisual communication at the Complutense University of Madrid. In May 2016, he came out as gay in an Instagram post.
Raya began skating in 1998 at a rink near Madrid's Chamartín railway station. His first coach was Jocelyn Flanagan. He is now coached by Carolina Sanz and Jordi Lafarga in Madrid and spends some time training in Canada during the summer. He has worked with Daniela Slovak in Calgary, Manon Perron in Montreal, and Brian Orser in Toronto.
Raya made his European debut in 2011, finishing 19th. He sustained a leg injury before the 2011 Nebelhorn Trophy but recovered in November. He withdrew from the 2012 Spanish Championships due to illness, and later missed the 2012 Europeans but competed at the 2012 Worlds, where he finished 24th.
Raya competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and placed 25th. He withdrew from the 2014 World Championships due to an injury of the adductor in his left foot. At the 2015 European Championships in Stockholm, he placed 21st in the short program, 14th in the free skate, and 14th overall.
