The magazine "Paintings of the People" initiates a contest to select the best watercolor painting of ethnic peoples and customs. A hungry bohemian painter invokes his muse to help him to produce the winning painting, and when he experiments with scenes set in Mexico, Argentina and Spain, his paintings come to life. In Xochimilco, Mexico, a young bachelor has a drunken dream that his girl friend is performing Josephine Baker's famous banana dance in a Parisian nightclub. In Buenos Aires, an Italian and a Galician are rivals for the affections of a Creole girl. At the other side of the Hispanic world, a Sevillian girl tells of her tragic romance with a matador, who obstinately continues to appear in the ring despite having been injured.

The murder of an 8-year-old boy by a young soldier in Tijuana, Mexico, leads to riots on the streets. Based on a true story.