In a lone building on a busy road going through an arid desert in Spain, the beautiful Silvia spends her evenings making potato omelettes to sell at the factory where she works sewing men's underwear. Her mother Carmen works as a prostitute in a roadside brothel nearby. José Luis, pampered son of the factory owners, has been seeing Silvia on the side and when she tells him she has missed two periods, he picks up a soda can tab from the ground to serve as an engagement ring and promises he will stand by her. He cannot promise marriage until he can convince his wealthy parents that she will be a suitable bride.