In the spring of 1925, Altolaguirre moved to Madrid to work at Francisco Bergamín’s law firm, but he realized that law was not his strong point and began exploring the literary and artistic circles, accompanied by José Bergamín and Rafael Alberti. He returned to Malaga in June and started working with Emilio Prados, a friend who played an influential role in his intellectual and personal development. They established the printing house Sur that published Prados’ Tiempo (1925), and Altolaguirre’s first poetry book, Las islas invitadas y otros poemas (1926).

Altolaguirre mother died on September 8; 1926. Some years later, the poet would single out that date as the most significant day in his life.

In November, Sur started publishing the journal Litoral, in whose pages most of the poets of the Generation of ‘27 were present: Alberti, Aleixandre, Bergamín, Cernuda, Diego, García Lorca, Guillén, and Hinojosa, among others. In the fall of 1927, Prados and Altolaguirre published a special issue of the journal in honor of Luis de Góngora that was met with great acclaim. They published as supplements of Litoral Alberti’s La amante (1926), Bergamín’s Caracteres (1927), Federico García Lorca’s Canciones (1927), and Altolaguirre’s Ejemplo (1927).

In the two issues published during the second epoch of Litoral (May-June 1929) one can see the influence of surrealism, which was due in part to Hinojosa’s cooperation with the editorial board of the periodical. Altolaguirre also contributed to other periodicals, such as Ley, Verso y Prosa, Mediodía, Meseta, Carmen, Papel de Aleluyas, and La Gaceta Literaria.

In March of 1930, Altolaguirre began publishing his own journal, Poesía, featuring a selection of the Spanish classics (San Juan de la Cruz, Fray Luis de León, and Lope de Vega), combined with contemporary poets (Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, and the printer himself).