Set in the rolling hills of Gipuzkoa in the early 1900s, Placido follows the journey of Placido Monroy, the son of Basque shepherds whose quiet brilliance and boundless curiosity carry him from the family farm in Altzibar to the classrooms of San Sebastian and the universities of Bilbao. Born into the rhythms of land and labor, he comes of age amid the shifting tides of a Europe on the brink of war.
Guided by his uncle Paco, tested by friendship and rivalry at the San Vicente School, and shaped by the discipline of work and faith, Placido learns that knowledge alone is not enough-it must serve compassion. As he matures into manhood, his life intertwines with that of Ibai, Esteban, and others whose loyalties are tested by conscience, class, and the gathering storm of the Great War. He must also find balance between inner peace and the challenges brought on by the influenza pandemic, powerful land barons, and the rising unrest that will culminate in the Spanish Civil War.
From the red-roofed farmhouses of the Pyrenees to the shipyards of San Sebastian, from the field hospitals of France to cities ravaged by influenza and, finally, to the unsettling dangers of the Spanish Civil War, Placido captures the timeless struggle between duty and destiny, family and freedom. It is a story of roots and wings-of how one young man's pursuit of purpose becomes a mirror of the Basque spirit itself: resilient, humble, and unyielding in the face of change.
