The story takes place in Mostaganem, on the Algerian coast. The boatman, Hassan, prepares the secret crossing to Spain of a group of ten illegal immigrants that barely take anything with them: a change of clothes, a cell phone, and a bit of money. Harragas tells the odyssey of this group of people who dream of Spain, barely 125 miles from the Algerian coast and the door that opens onto the European "El Dorado".