In 1957, he joined Víctor Seix in the management of the publishing house Seix Barral, which had been founded by his parents in 1911, and which became the most prestigious publishing house in the 1960s and thereafter.
Looking for a way to further open up Spanish literature Markets, Barral organised, through the Seix Barral, a series of annual meetings of publishers, novelists and critics.
These 'Coloquio Internacional de Novela' ('International Colloquium of the Novel') were held in Formentor on Majorca, Spain between 1959 and 1962, paid for by international publishers.
Prize winners included Borges, Beckett and Bellow.
He is best known for his two poetry books, Metropolitano, 19 historias de mi guerra civil ("Metropolitan, 19 Stories of My Civil War") and Lecciones de cosas ("Lessons of Things"), but his three volumes of memoirs are also held in high esteem.