Using the Spanish conditional simple to talk about a future in the past

Question

You make this construction unnecessarily complicated. The conditional is used here simply because even the future event is stated conditionally: so-and-so “would” do such-and-such. It’s a perfect parallel to the English conditional.

Answer

Hola J. B.
The Spanish conditional simple does indeed serve a similar function to the English conditional in these cases, and you're absolutely right—it doesn't have to be complicated! When we talk about a "future in the past", we're referring to an event that, from a past perspective, was expected to happen later on. In Spanish, we use the conditional to express this because it aligns with the hypothetical or "would" sense, just like in English.
For example:
"Dijo que vendría más tarde". (He said he would come later.)
Here, the conditional "vendría" is used to show that, from a past point of view, coming later was an anticipated action. Just like in English, where we say "he would come", Spanish uses the conditional to indicate that the event is viewed from the past as a future possibility or expectation.
So, it’s simply about expressing a future action relative to a past moment, much like English does!
Saludos
Silvia