La sombra de la tierra

In the town of Villaveza del Agua, the death of Genaro, a corrupt man, unleashes a series of conflicts in which his widow Atilana and her children struggle to survive under the tyranny of Doña Garibalda, the local matriarch. Amid family problems and town intrigues, the tragedy of Bela, who seeks to escape a dark past, triggers a series of painful events that reveal the cruelty and desperation of its inhabitants.

In Villaveza del Agua, the tyrannical influence of Doña Garibalda continues to hamper the Bernardinos, preventing them from burying their dead and destroying their property. As the conflicts escalate, family tensions are revealed: Garibalda and Atilana, sisters, are at odds while their children and the town suffer. The situation worsens when Braulio finds his brother Demetrio, already in ruins, and kills him in a fit of desperation. In the midst of this chaos, Baldo flees to enlist in the war in Cuba, seeking to escape his oppressive reality, while Amparo, with a strange and brutal character, kills the gravedigger Agustín.

In Cuba, Baldo uses his knowledge of botany to help in the infirmary while war and yellow fever rage; he loses his friend Teodoro and falls seriously ill. In Villaveza, life is spent between secret loves, suspicions of murder, and the growing influence of Atilana, who symbolically buries Baldo after receiving news of his death, marking her power over the town.

The rivalry between Atilana and Garibalda, born of child abuse and jealousy, culminates in a revenge that leaves both of them empty. Atilana, with absolute power, succumbs to the emptiness of her triumph while her daughter Amparo emerges as a perverse and destructive figure, perpetuating a cycle of hatred in a world in transformation.