In Spain of the 1960s, a poor family of quinquis - a nomadic ethnic group with a tradition as old as that of the gypsises of Spain but with even more obscure origins - have a nomadic life marked by poverty. The son, Eleuterio Sánchez Rodriguez, nicknamed "El Lute", steals some chickens and is condemned to six months in jail. El Lute moves to the slum outskirts of Madrid with his common law wife, Chelo, starting an itinerant life as a peddler of pots and pans and living in a quinqui shantytown. He gradually embarks upon as life of petty criminality, eventually participating in the theft of a jewelry store during which a bystander is killed.

Emilio Antunez and his wife Charo, come to La Molina, willing to spend a few happy days of vacation. Charo, foreseeing that she will meet with important people, brings an assorted and elegant wardrobe, which is soon able to wear when she meets with Aurora, an old school friend who is married to the eccentric millionaire Taboada.