En verano comemos sardinas cerca de la playa.

In Spanish, seasons are often used without the article after en when you mean them in a general, time-of-year sense.

So:

• en verano = in summer / during summer
• en invierno = in winter

Using en el verano is possible, but it usually sounds more specific, like in that summer or during the summer in a particular context. For a general habit, en verano is the most natural choice.

Comemos is the present tense of comer for nosotros:

• yo como
• tú comes
• él/ella come
• nosotros comemos
• vosotros coméis
• ellos comen

Here it most naturally expresses a habitual action:

• En verano comemos sardinas... = In summer we eat sardines...

So it means something like we usually eat or we tend to eat.

Usually, in this sentence, no. Here it is understood as a general habit, not something happening right now.

Spanish often uses the simple present for habits and general truths. If you wanted to stress that the action is happening right now, Spanish would more likely use:

• Estamos comiendo sardinas... = We are eating sardines...

But with En verano, the sentence clearly sounds habitual, so we eat is the best interpretation.

Because Spanish often drops subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

• comemos already tells you the subject is we
• so nosotros comemos is grammatically possible, but usually unnecessary

Spanish is a pro-drop language, unlike English. You only add nosotros if you want emphasis or contrast:

• Nosotros comemos sardinas, pero ellos no.
  We eat sardines, but they don’t.

In Spanish, when talking about food in a general or indefinite way, it is very common to use the noun without an article.

So:

• comemos sardinas = we eat sardines

This sounds natural when you mean sardines as a type of food, not specific sardines already mentioned.

If you said comemos las sardinas, it would usually mean we eat the sardines — specific sardines that both speaker and listener know about.

Because cerca normally needs de before the place or thing it is near.

So:

• cerca de la playa = near the beach
• cerca de casa = near home
• cerca del centro = near the centre

Think of cerca de as a fixed expression meaning near.

Because playa is a feminine singular noun, so it takes la:

• la playa = the beach

After de, the article stays:

• cerca de la playa = near the beach

This is different from masculine singular nouns with el, where de + el = del:

• cerca del hotel = near the hotel

But with la, there is no contraction:

• de la playa, not dela

Yes. Spanish word order is more flexible than English, although not every version sounds equally natural.

The original sentence is very natural:

• En verano comemos sardinas cerca de la playa.

You could also say:

• Comemos sardinas cerca de la playa en verano.

That is grammatical, but it places the time expression later. The original version sounds a bit more natural if you want to set the scene first: In summer...

You could even say:

• Cerca de la playa comemos sardinas en verano.

That is possible too, but now the location is being highlighted more strongly.

No. It means near the beach, not necessarily on it.

• cerca de la playa = near the beach
• en la playa = on/at the beach

So the sentence suggests the eating happens somewhere close to the beach, perhaps at a restaurant, home, or picnic spot nearby.

If you wanted to say they eat sardines actually at the beach, you would more likely say:

• En verano comemos sardinas en la playa.

Because in Spanish, seasons are normally written with lowercase, not capital letters.

So:

• verano
• invierno
• primavera
• otoño

This is different from English habits with some time expressions. In Spanish, only proper nouns and other special cases get capitals.

In most of Spain, the c before e is pronounced like the th in think.

So cerca sounds approximately like:

• THER-ka in much of Spain

More exactly:

• cer = a th sound + rolled/light r
• ca = ka

In much of Latin America, that same c would sound like an s, so SER-ka.

Since you asked about Spanish from Spain, the th pronunciation is the key point here.

It is understood everywhere in the Spanish-speaking world. The grammar and vocabulary are completely standard.

What makes it feel slightly connected to Spain is more cultural than grammatical: sardinas and eating them near the beach may sound especially familiar in Spain, but the sentence itself is universal Spanish.

The main Spain-specific difference you might notice is pronunciation, especially in words like cerca.

Yes, absolutely.

• En verano = in summer
• Durante el verano = during the summer

Both are correct. But they are not identical in feel:

• En verano is shorter and more natural for a general habit
• Durante el verano sounds a little more explicit or formal

For everyday speech, En verano is usually the most idiomatic choice here.