He was born in Vilalba (Lugo), on 21 July 1935. An excellent pianist, he has been living in Paris since 1955. He is the editor in chief of Radio France Internationale (Iberian language section), creator of the prestigious Juan Rulfo award and a contributor to Le Monde Diplomatique. He did excellent work as a journalist for the magazine Triunfo and has been a literary critic for Le Monde since 1992. He is the author of several books: Georges Brassens (1973), Guía secreta de París (1975), El lago de Como (1983), Palabras en el tiempo de Alejo Carpentier (1984), Un posible Onetti (1994), Un tren de hielo y fuego: Mano Negra en Colombia (1994) and Prisciliano de Compostela (1999), among others.