Born in Jerez De La Frontera in the province of Cadiz, Raul Lopez started his playing career at Melilla in order to fulfill his military service, and moved to Cadiz after 21 games. He impressed over the following season and between 1997-2001 he missed few games as Cadiz chased promotion back to the Segunda A division. He then moved to Racing Ferrol where he spent 2 years, but after his ex-teammates had secured promotion for Cadiz he returned to the Estadio Carranza and played 37 games in the 2003/04 season. He regained his place in the team at the tail end of the season at the expense of Velazquez.