Among them live their three children: Nieves works as a maid in the big house; Quirce is doing his military service; and their youngest daughter Charito is severely handicapped and confined to a crib.

For instance, the owner's son, señorito Iván, often comes back to the estate to openly conduct an affair with Pura, and her knowing husband takes out his impotent rage on the labourers, particularly Azarías.

Paco and Régula accept the repeated humiliations of their position as dependents at the whim of the owners and the estate manager, but Nieves and Quirce are less inured to this reality and aim for a better life.

Besides his affair with Pedro's wife, another reason for Iván's visits is his fanatical love of fowling, and hunting parties are routinely organized in the area.

His infantile mental age spares him legal prosecution (which in 1960s Spain would have entailed a lengthy prison sentence or even the death penalty) and he is committed to an asylum.