Palm Trees in the Snow

In 1954, Kilian and his brother Jacobo bid farewell to their mother and sister and board a ship to Guinea to join their father Antón on the cocoa plantation. They are greeted on arrival by Antón and his friend Ose, and meet Manuel, the estate's new resident doctor. The voyage marks the beginning of Kilian's life in Bioko, surrounded by unfamiliar landscapes and duties.

On the plantation, Kilian encounters the harsh overseer Gregorio and the routines of estate life. He meets Manuel, the doctor, and is introduced to his father, Antón, and Ose, who guide him through local customs. A mysterious singing in the forest and a waterfall where he first sees a crying woman haunt him, hinting at a memory to come.

Weeks after arrival, a dinner party hosted by Julia exposes Jacobo's flirtations and Julia's stern rebuke of his behavior. Kilian finds himself drawn to Julia, sensing a complicated and dangerous chemistry. The night foreshadows the later entanglements that will shape the family’s fate.

Kilian attends Bisila's wedding and learns that she is the same woman from the waterfall he witnessed years earlier. The realization deepens his attraction to Bisila and ties the present to a memory from the forest. The moment also marks the beginning of a fragile, growing bond.

Antón's health worsens and he dies, and Jacobo bolts into the forest in grief. Kilian leaves Bioko for Pasolobino, returning to Spain for three years as the family fragments and the estate’s tensions rise. This separation reshapes Kilian’s view of loyalty, love, and home.

In 1957 Kilian returns to Bioko and rekindles ties with Ose and the local Bubi communities, reconnecting with life on the estate. He also revisits the plantation's dynamics, while Jacobo's presence remains a source of tension. The island begins to feel like a place Kilian must read anew.

Kilian and Bisila grow closer, though they try to keep their relationship hidden as the estate's politics tighten. Jacobo and others grow wary of the pair, sensing that their bond could bring further trouble. Kilian's loyalty and desire pull him between family duty and personal happiness.

In 1964, Catalina's health worsens and the family asks Kilian to return to Spain. He remains after she dies, first in the country and then back in Spain, as memories of Bioko linger. The long separation raises questions about where Kilian truly belongs.

Back on Bioko, Jacobo returns and reveals he has met a woman in Spain; he makes another advance toward Julia, testing boundaries and revealing his relentless pursuit. Kilian hears of these developments from afar and feels the distance between his past and present. The island's politics continue to bubble beneath the surface.

Bisila is assaulted by a carful of drunken men, including Jacobo, while Simón comes to her aid and begs for secrecy. Kilian learns of the attack and confronts Jacobo, revealing the deaths of Dick and Pao and warning of Mosi's potential revenge. The incident binds Kilian more tightly to Bisila and threatens to ignite further violence.

In 1968 a new president signals the move toward independence and the colonial order collapses. Kilian faces a brutal ritual in the forest, and Simón persuades the laborers to spare him if he leaves Bioko with Bisila after her mourning. Bisila arrives with Iniko and Laha, revealing that Kilian is Laha's father, complicating loyalties and future bonds.

The departure from Bioko collapses into chaos: Julia and Manuel escape by ship while Nelson is killed in the clashes. Kilian and Bisila marry in a vigil by the Keeper of the Isle, but Kilian is eventually forced to leave Bioko alone, ending his life on the island in exile. The island’s colonial world gives way to a new reckoning for the couple.

In the present, Clarence returns to Pasolobino and visits the aging Kilian, returning the hat Kilian once gave Bisila and prompting him to remember her through a song. The circle between past and present begins to feel complete as memory reconnects generations.

Back in Bioko, Bisila learns of Kilian's death in Spain and walks into the sea, letting the tides carry away her memory. Iniko and Laha later visit Clarence in Pasolobino to introduce themselves and to close the circle with Daniela, joining past and present in a shared memory.