Political and religious prejudices are destroying the relationship between two teenagers in wartime Spain.

In April 1940, 16-year-old Manolo and 8-year-old Jesus are taken by their older brother Pepe, a lieutenant in the Army, to a sanatorium for children suffering from tuberculosis, situated on the border with Portugal. Once in the sanatorium, Manolo, surrounded by boys all much younger than he is, feels a bit like the cock-of-the-walk since the only other man around is handyman Emilio, who looks after the gardens and does whatever needs to be done about the place. His wife Rafaela, is the cook. Manolo meets Irene, a falangist who runs the sanatorium, and the schoolteacher, Miss Transito, a crabby spinster. He has his first sexual experience, albeit as a voyeur, with his nurse Vicenta. When she must leave, her place is taken by a girl from the village, Maria Jesus, with whom Manolo falls hopelessly in love. A relationship grows between them which will mark them both forever.—Anonymous