In his student years, Carballo Calero participated in the Spanish left-wing republican movements opposing the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera.

In 1926, he moved to Santiago de Compostela to study for degrees in Law and Philosophy and to do his compulsory military service.

[13] In 1931, he joined the Partido Galeguista ("Galicianist Party") and contributed to the draft of the first Galician Statute of Autonomy alongside intellectuals such as Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao.

He also collaborated with left-wing nationalist organizations such as Esquerda Galeguista ("Galician Left") and with political publications such as Claridad ("Clarity") and Ser ("To Be").

He returned to his natal city of Ferrol, where he worked as a private tutor as he was banned from holding any public position, including teaching.

His thesis was published in 1963 with the title Historia da literatura galega contemporánea ("History of contemporary Galician literature").

At that stage, Carballo Calero can be considered the world expert in the work of poet Rosalia de Castro.

[citation needed] He even stated that the new norms and linguistic laws provoked a situation which "is anti-hygienic and goes against the economy" (in Uma voz na Galiza, 1984).