His liberal disposition landed him in Carabanchel prison in 1957, where he met many other regime critics. This experience further helped to shape his rebellious personality. After Carabanchel, he began his particular struggle for freedoms, founding the magazine “Cuadernos para el Diálogo”, or collaborating in the inception of the newspaper “El País”.

His interest in social and cultural issues led him to chair societies such as “Nuevo Ateneo” or “El Sitio” (1985-1989) which he helped consolidate.

An honest person, committed to his time, he was always linked to editorial and local cultural activities. In the year 1974, he established a Foundation in memory of his father, whose main purpose is to provide assistance for underprivileged groups.

A writer by vocation, his prose was elegant and evocative, as evidenced in his works: ten novels and seven essays. The social commitment he exuded is revealed in the numerous opinion columns he published in various newspapers: El País, ABC, El Correo, Deia, El Mundo, and other ceased newspapers such as Bilbao, Hierro or La Gaceta del Norte, as well as in the cultural magazine Arbola.

If something set Antón aside from other intellectuals of the time was the fact that, while holding a more than privileged position in the society surrounding dictator Franco, he did no let the social conditionings of the time dictate his direction. He fought against imposition and the closing to the outside world. Along with figures such as Enrique Tierno, Raúl Morodo or Joaquín Ruiz Jiménez, he endeavoured, from the “Plataforma para las libertades” to claim the pro-European nature of the country. Together, they helped open the windows “from the inside” to let the air in and make our environment more breathable, that was the commencement of the changes that ensued. It was by no means an easy task.

They also paid their toll, they were sent to jail. And for a long time, they were snubbed, even acquiring a reputation for being traitors or eccentric lunatics (depending on whether the opinion came from the right or the left wing).

The fact is that these individuals contributed to make the system yield so that the transition would not become a traumatic and violent period. With their liberal ideology, they convinced all sides that the future lied in the peaceful transformation of the country, which could only be achieved through respect and consideration.

A lot of work remains to be done to ensure our society is as perfect as Antón wished it to be, but he left a very good example of perseverance, humanism and honesty for future generations.