When her country is taken over by socialist revolutionaries, a wealthy woman can't bear to give up all of her wealth and possessions to the new government, so she hides all of her treasures in the 12 chairs of a dining-room set. After her death her nephew finds out what she had done and, since the chairs had been "nationalized" and are now in the possession of a dozen different people, he sets out to track them down and get the treasures he believes rightfully belong to him.

One winter morning in 1963, a Civil Aviation captain arrives in Gibara. A taxi driver takes him to the guest house of Elena, a lady belonging to the old bourgeoisie of the place. At first, Elena and the other guests treat the newcomer coldly, but when they learn that he is a captain in the US Civil Aviation Authority (who has come to Cuba to exchange medicine for the invaders at Playa Girón), the situation changes. A dazzling romance begins between Elena and the captain, but the ending will be unexpected.