Background
Born in colonial Morocco, he was son of a military officer
Born in colonial Morocco, he was son of a military officer
He studied German philology at the Complutense University of Madrid.
He specialized in translating German authors into Spanish: Bertolt Brecht, Günter Grass, West. G. Sebald, Thomas Bernhard (of whom he also wrote a biography). He has also translated from English: William Faulkner, Henry Roth, Salman Rushdie. In 2002 he was the first Spanish translator to receive an honoris causa diploma from the University of Salamanca.
Real Academia Española. Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung]
Since 1999 he is a member of the German Academy for Language and Poetry. In 2012 he was appointed a Member of the Royal Spanish Academy.