Conde was born into a middle-class family with strong Galicianist traditions. He studied
nautical science at the Nautical College of
A Coruña and History at the
University of Santiago de Compostela. He worked as a merchant sailor and later as a history teacher in a private school. In 1973, he co-founded the bookstore
Xuntanza in
Pontevedra with José Luis Llácer,
Margariña Valderrama,
María Victoria Moreno, Blanca Varona, Ramón Yuste, Carmen María Echarre, Paco Gulías and Javier Yuste. The bookstore closed in 1976 due to debts. Between 1981 and 1993, Conde served as a member of the
Parliament of Galicia as an independent in the
Socialists' Party of Galicia parliamentary group. From 1987 to 1990 he was the regional minister of culture in the government of
Fernando González Laxe. He also became the first president of the
PEN Club of Galicia (1990–1991). His first published work was the poetry collection
Mencer de lúas (1968), but he is best known for his narrative prose, beginning with the short story collection
Mementos de vivos (1974). == Works in Galician ==