Después del cruce, sigue por la avenida principal hasta la plaza.

Because después de requires the preposition de. When de is followed by el, they contract:

• de + el = del

So:

• después del cruce = after the crossing/intersection

This contraction happens almost always with de + el in Spanish. The main exception is when el is part of a proper name, such as de El Escorial.

Here, cruce means a crossing, junction, or intersection. In directions, it often refers to the place where roads or streets cross.

Depending on context, Spanish might also use:

• cruce = crossing/junction
• intersección = intersection
• cruce de calles = road intersection

In everyday route instructions, cruce is very natural.

Sigue is the tú imperative of seguir, meaning continue, keep going, or follow.

So sigue here means something like:

• continue
• keep going
• go on

In directions, Spanish often uses this imperative form to tell someone what to do next.

Examples:

• Sigue recto. = Keep going straight.
• Sigue por esta calle. = Continue along this street.

Because context makes it clear.

The form sigue can mean:

• he/she follows or you follow in the present tense
• follow!/continue! as a tú command

In a directions sentence like this one, it is naturally understood as a command:

• Después del cruce, sigue... = After the intersection, continue...

Spanish often relies on context to distinguish between these meanings.

Because this sentence is addressing one person informally: tú.

Imperative forms of seguir:

• tú: sigue
• usted: siga
• vosotros: seguid
• ustedes: sigan

So:

• Sigue por la avenida... = informal singular
• Siga por la avenida... = formal singular

Since this is Spanish from Spain, both tú and usted are possible, but sigue shows the informal one.

Here, por means something like along, via, or through.

So:

• sigue por la avenida principal = continue along the main avenue

In directions, por is often used for the route or path you take.

Compare:

• Voy por esta calle. = I’m going along this street.
• Pasa por el parque. = Go through/by the park.

It does not mean exactly for here, even though por often translates that way in other contexts.

Because they express different ideas:

• por = the route/path you go along
• hasta = the end point, meaning until or as far as

So in this sentence:

• por la avenida principal = along the main avenue
• hasta la plaza = until/as far as the square

Together, the idea is:

• continue along the main avenue until you reach the square

Avenida means avenue, and principal means main.

Spanish usually puts many adjectives after the noun, so:

• la avenida principal = the main avenue

This is the normal word order in Spanish.

Compare:

• la calle principal = the main street
• la plaza central = the central square

Yes. Adjectives in Spanish usually agree with the noun in gender and number.

Here:

• avenida is feminine singular
• principal is a form that works for both masculine and feminine singular

So:

• la avenida principal
• el motivo principal

In the plural:

• las avenidas principales
• los motivos principales

Because hasta emphasizes the endpoint of the movement as up to / until / as far as.

• hasta la plaza = as far as the square / until you reach the square

If you said a la plaza, that would simply indicate direction to the square, but it would not express the same sense of continue until that point as clearly.

In route instructions, hasta is very common when marking where to stop or where the route continues to.

In Spain, plaza usually means a public square, an open space in a town or city, often surrounded by buildings, cafés, shops, or official buildings.

It does not usually mean plaza in the English sense of a shopping center forecourt. In Spanish from Spain, la plaza is often a central town square.

Examples:

• la Plaza Mayor
• la plaza del pueblo

The comma separates the introductory time/location phrase from the main instruction.

• Después del cruce, = after the intersection
• sigue por la avenida principal... = continue along the main avenue...

This comma helps readability and is very natural in written instructions. In speech, there is usually a slight pause there too.

Sometimes después appears alone, but when it is followed by a noun, it normally needs de.

Compare:

• Nos vemos después. = See you later.
• Después de la comida... = After the meal...
• Después del cruce... = After the crossing...

So in this sentence, de is necessary because cruce is a noun.

In Spain, sigue is pronounced approximately SEE-geh, with the g sounding like the soft g in get, because it comes before u and e.

A rough guide:

• si = like see
• gue = like geh

Also, the u in gue is silent here.

So:

• sigue ≈ SEE-geh

The stress is on the first syllable: SI-gue.

It works in general Spanish, but it fits Spain very naturally.

A few points:

• plaza and avenida principal are very standard in Spain
• sigue as a tú command is completely normal in Spain
• In Latin America, people might sometimes prefer siga if using usted more often in public instructions

So the sentence is not exclusive to Spain, but it sounds perfectly natural there.