Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): El destino final será la colina donde se ve toda la ciudad. - The final destination will be the hill where you can see the whole city.

Breakdown of El destino final será la colina donde se ve toda la ciudad.

What does destino final mean, and could you just say destino instead?

Destino final literally translates to final destination.
The word final adds emphasis that this is the last or ultimate stop.
In many contexts you can simply say destino, but destino final clarifies that there are no further stops beyond that point.

Why is será used here instead of the present tense es or another verb like estará?

Será is the future tense of ser (“will be”), indicating that the decision or event is still to happen.
If you used es, you’d be stating it as a current fact: “El destino final es la colina…” (“The final destination is the hill…”).
Using estará (“will be located”) shifts the meaning to the hill’s future location or condition, which sounds less natural in this context.

Why do we use ser here and not estar when talking about where something is?

Ser in será expresses “will be [identified as]” rather than physical location.
If you wanted to talk about the hill’s physical location, you’d use estar:
• La colina estará al norte de la ciudad.
But here the sentence is assigning the role of final destination to the hill, so ser is appropriate.

What function does donde serve in this sentence? Could you use or instead?