El enemigo

On a rainy Madrid street, a modest three‑storey building teems with life as Christmas Eve descends. The ground floor houses a cloth merchant, a bustling tailor‑militiaman, and a makeshift workshop where wooden spoons are carved, while the stairwell creaks under the weight of festive drums and shouts. Above, the narrow portal opens onto an apartment where a mother and her daughter arrange a humble feast amid the clamor of distant drums and the scent of turrón drifting from the market square.

Inside the quiet second‑floor flat, Doña Manuela moves with a practiced severity, assigning each family member a place at the table while the glow of a brass lantern flickers against the soot‑stained walls. Though the household appears modest, the gathering hints at deeper connections among prisoners’ suppliers, militia volunteers, and street vendors, all converging on this night of celebration. Listeners will feel the tension between merriment and the unspoken worries that linger in the corners of the room, setting the stage for a story of loyalty, secrets, and the restless pulse of a city on the brink.