Berta, imprisoned in Franco's Spain on fraud charges, learns to navigate the indignities of prison, spreading her own brand of kindness and empathy to the other inmates, but she unwillingly learns a valuable lesson when she falls in love with one of them.

Ignacio Costa is a tyrannical businessman with a conflictive personal life. He has a large family, a woman he abuses and humiliates and five children with whom he does the same, except for Mariana one of the girls. Tired of so many vexations, his wife will begin to influence his children until together they will plot the murder of the father

Luciano has been working in an important company for fifteen years without be rewarded for his efforts, his fidelity and submission. On the recommendation of a cousin, he acts as front man for the shameful business of his managers. They get it so far as to force him to marry the former mistress of one of the directors. Finally, because of a fire in the chalet where he lives and where they cook the dirty business of which he is not responsible for, Luciano ends up in jail for covering up and taking on some responsibilities that are not his, fulfilling his role of straw man until the end.

Gálvez is a bumbling journalist investigating a real state shady business.

Atilano Bermejo is a petty crook who gets involved in the scam of his life: to be Prime Minister. His charisma and lack of social concern make him an ideal political candidate for a group of bankers looking for a good public image behind which to hide and disguise their ambitions.

Justino was working in a bull-ring but now he is retired. For him it is very difficult to adapt to the new situation although he will find soon a hobby without forgetting his profession.

Matias is a soccer referee. He promised his dying mother never to lie. When he referees a match of the spanish national team and there is a clear penalty against Spain in the last minute of the game he has no choice and marks the foul. As a result Spain does not qualify for the world championship and Matias is forced to escape from the rage of the people. He hides in the town of his father which he hasn't visited since his childhood.

A political prisoner in a South American dictatorship escapes and is pursued throughout the country by a bloodthirsty dog.

At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the nun Maria is forced to flee her convent. She takes refuge in a brothel, until it is liberated by a woman's anarchist group. Maria joins the group and eventually goes to the front. The women's group faces the problems of fighting not only the nationalists, but also factions on the left seeking to impose a more traditional military structure.

Spain, August 1936, the first days of the Spanish Civil War. During the painful pilgrimage of the Andalusian writer Blas Infante (1885-1936) from prison to prison, always on the verge of death, various images cross his mind: people, dreams, remnants of his past.