"Voltaire travels by ship; a rival throws him into the ocean. Washed ashore in Spain, HE fears the
stake. He shouldn't be afraid. SPAIN is now the paradise of religious and erotic freedom. It is a carnival."  

SYNOPSIS:

Voltaire and paganini in spain

Act I: Shipwrecked in the Wrong Destination

(1) 1. The Debate En Route to England: The Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire and the

virtuoso violinist Paganini are traveling aboard a French ship bound for England. During the

voyage, an intense ideological debate breaks out on deck, where Voltaire displays his

trademark biting and destructive humor, publicly humiliating a dogmatic rival.

(2) 2. The Nighttime Betrayal: Seeking revenge, the ideological rival takes advantage of the

darkness of the night to throw Voltaire overboard. In the process, he decides to get rid of

Paganini as well, justifying his murder under the pretext that the musician has made a pact with

the devil.

(3) 3. Calculating the Nightmare: Against all odds, both survive the ocean, and the waves

wash them ashore on an unknown beach. Utilizing his scientific knowledge, Voltaire analytically

and mathematically calculates their location and discovers to his horror that they did not reach

England: the currents have drifted them to Spain. For Voltaire, this is a death sentence; he

knows that the Inquisition will judge him for heresy and he will end up at the stake. Desperate,

they hatch a plan to cross the country by land and escape.

Act II: From Carnival to Invasion

(4) 4. Discovering Utopia: As they begin their march, the fugitives' terror turns into

bewilderment. Spain has undergone an absolute and blissful mutation: the Inquisition no longer

exists. The country has become a paradise of political freedom, religious tolerance, and erotic

liberation; a perpetual carnival of hedonism and free thought.

(5) 5. The Encounter with the Traveling Bookseller: Along the way, Voltaire and Paganini

strike up a deep friendship with a curious local character: a tall, thin man who spent his life

devouring books of chivalry. One day, tired of mere passive reading, he decided to load his

entire library onto a cart and set out onto the roads, towns, and cities to sell them, achieving

massive commercial and cultural success in this new, enlightened Spain.

(6) 6. Celebrities of the Festival: Upon being recognized, Voltaire and Paganini discover that

the Spanish people are now their greatest admirers. The two geniuses fully integrate

themselves into the carnival alongside their new bookseller friend and an entourage of fans;

they attend banquets, debate openly, and find local girlfriends, living an idyll that feels like a

perfect dream.

(7) 7. Thunder in Paradise: In the middle of the party, the utopia is violently shattered by the

appearance of an implacable army that razes everything in its path. It is a coalition of Native

Americans—the best horsemen in the world—who have been secretly transported to the

Spanish coast by the British Empire.

(8) 8. The Absurd Cause of War: The trigger for the invasion is revealed, an irony that defies

all philosophical logic: in a theater in San Antonio, Texas, a group of Spaniards publicly mocked

a Comanche Indian who was playing the role of Don Juan, unleashing the unified wrath of the

native tribes and their strategic alliance with England to destroy the Spanish Empire.

Act III: The Great Escape and Unexpected Encounters

(9) 9. An Unexpected Alliance: Amidst the chaos and destruction of the free Spain, Voltaire,

Paganini, and the bookseller are forced to cooperate in order to survive. During their escape,

they forge an unexpected relationship with one of the native warriors from the invading army,

who decides to help them flee the general danger.

(10) 10. The Magical Escape on a Raft: Pursued by the global conflict and guided by Voltaire's

wit, Paganini's music, the bookseller's resources, and the native's skills, the group reaches the

edge of the coast. Defying the laws of physics and geography, they manage to cross the vast

ocean in a magical way aboard a simple raft, leaving the destroyed paradise behind as they

head toward their original destination.

(11) 11. The Boredom and the Rescue: Out in the open sea on their raft, the long, magical

journey turns deeply monotonous, and the travelers find themselves completely bored.

However, the monotony is broken when they spot a lone castaway drifting in the ocean. They

rescue him onto their raft, only to discover he is a man named Ishmael, accompanied by a

strikingly beautiful young woman dressed in exquisite Arabic style who introduces herself as

Scheherazade.