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.

In the slums of Barcelona, Fanny, a woman just released from prison, tries to carry out a revenge that has nourished for years: to kill "El Gallego", the corrupt and brutal policeman who killed her boyfriend