A soprano, she devoted her whole life to lyric theatre and was one of the most outstanding performers of zarzuela, operetta and opera of the 20th century.
She was born in Getaria on 28 February 1918. Daughter of Arturo Embil, organist of the parish church, she studied music and singing in Donostia and performed with the Orfeón Eusko Abesbatza. She later took part in different groups such as the Ereseinka company and the Salle Pleyel in Paris, where she spent a season studying singing with an Armenian teacher. She made her debut at the Teatro Liceo in Barcelona. After several opera performances, she was attracted to zarzuela, to which she devoted herself fully. She came to be considered La Reina del Teatro Lírico español (The Queen of Spanish Lyric Theatre).
She married the Catalan-Aragonese baritone Plácido Domingo Ferrer and settled in Mexico. There they formed their own lyric company with the maestro Federico Moreno Torroba and developed most of their artistic career. He died on 28 August 1993.
The fruit of their marriage are their two children María José and the famous tenor Plácido Domingo Embil.