The year is 1820, and trade between Cuba and Catalonia is a booming business, although the goods that arrive to Cuba are not always the products that were shipped, in some cases, they simply arrive "lumps" or "coal". As it appears in the logbooks of the ships. 'Havanera 1820' is a film that tells stories of love and adventure in a time when Cuba confronts the Spanish colonizers.

Joan Mares obsession for the lovely and luscious Norma Valenti takes epic proportions because he cannot let go of her. After he is injured by some skin heads, he uses his scars to pursue his life as a street musician. He devices a plan to get to Norma and she never catches on to his deceit, except she realizes that as Juan Faneca his performance in bed is exactly what she had experienced with Joan Mares because she concludes they were taught sex by the same prostitute.