Nada más llegar a casa, tuve que deshacer la maleta y guardar la ropa en el armario.

In this sentence, Nada más llegar a casa means as soon as I got home or right after getting home.

This is a very common Spanish structure:

Nada más + infinitive = as soon as ...

Examples:

• Nada más entrar, sonó el teléfono. = As soon as I came in, the phone rang.
• Nada más despertarme, pensé en eso. = As soon as I woke up, I thought about that.

So here:

• Nada más llegar a casa = as soon as arriving home → natural English: as soon as I got home

Because after Nada más, Spanish often uses the infinitive, not a fully conjugated verb.

So:

• Nada más llegar a casa... = As soon as I got home...

This is different from English, where we usually need a subject and a finite verb.

You could also say:

• Nada más llegué a casa...

but that is much less standard and less natural in most modern usage than Nada más llegar a casa. The infinitive structure is the one learners should aim for.

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb form.

Here, tuve already tells you the subject is I:

• tuve = I had

So:

• tuve que deshacer... = I had to unpack...

Adding yo is possible, but usually unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast:

• Yo tuve que deshacer la maleta... = I had to unpack the suitcase...

In Spanish, casa often works like home in English when talking about going home or being at home.

So you say:

• ir a casa = to go home
• llegar a casa = to get home
• estar en casa = to be at home

You usually do not use the article in this meaning.

But la casa is used when you mean the house/building in a more literal sense:

• Llegué a la casa de mi abuela. = I arrived at my grandmother’s house.

Both can mean had to, but they are not used in the same way.

Here, tuve que is preterite, which presents the obligation as a completed event in the story:

• Nada más llegar a casa, tuve que... = As soon as I got home, I had to...

It sounds like a specific thing that happened at that moment.

Tenía que is imperfect, and it usually gives background, repeated obligation, or an uncompleted/ongoing sense:

• Cuando vivía solo, tenía que hacerlo todo yo. = When I lived alone, I had to do everything myself.
• Tenía que deshacer la maleta, pero estaba muy cansado. = I had to unpack, but I was very tired.

So in this sentence, tuve que fits the sequence of events better.

Tener que + infinitive means to have to do something.

In this sentence:

• tuve que deshacer la maleta y guardar la ropa
  = I had to unpack the suitcase and put away the clothes

It is one of the most common ways to express obligation in Spanish.

Other examples:

• Tengo que estudiar. = I have to study.
• Tuvimos que salir. = We had to leave.

Because they both depend on tuve que.

Structure:

• tuve que + deshacer
• tuve que + guardar

To avoid repeating tuve que, Spanish simply links the two infinitives with y:

• Tuve que deshacer la maleta y guardar la ropa...

In English we do the same:

• I had to unpack the suitcase and put away the clothes

Literally, deshacer means to undo or to take apart, but with la maleta it means to unpack.

So:

• hacer la maleta = to pack a suitcase
• deshacer la maleta = to unpack a suitcase

This is a very normal expression in Spanish.

You may also hear deshacer las maletas if someone has more than one bag.

Sometimes, yes, but deshacer la maleta is very natural in Spain.

Desempacar exists, but it is much more common in many parts of Latin America than in Spain. In Spain, learners are more likely to hear:

• hacer/deshacer la maleta
• hacer/deshacer las maletas

So for Peninsular Spanish, deshacer la maleta is an excellent choice.

Guardar here means to put away or to store.

So:

• guardar la ropa en el armario = to put the clothes away in the wardrobe/closet

Spanish often uses guardar where English uses expressions like:

• put away
• store
• put back

It does not always mean guard in the English sense.

Examples:

• Guarda los zapatos en el armario. = Put the shoes away in the wardrobe.
• Guardé los documentos en un cajón. = I put/stored the documents in a drawer.

Spanish uses definite articles much more often than English.

So even when English might say:

• unpack my suitcase
• put away clothes in the wardrobe

Spanish often says:

• deshacer la maleta
• guardar la ropa en el armario

The article is natural because the items are understood from the situation.

This is very common in Spanish:

• Me duele la cabeza. = My head hurts.
• Lavé los platos. = I washed the dishes.

So the articles here are completely normal.

In Spain, armario usually means a wardrobe, cupboard, or closet, depending on context.

In this sentence, it most likely means a place where clothes are kept:

• a wardrobe
• a closet

A useful regional note:

• In Spain: armario
• In much of Latin America: clóset is also very common

So guardar la ropa en el armario is very natural European Spanish.

No. Nada más can also mean nothing else / only / that’s all, depending on context.

Examples:

• No quiero nada más. = I don’t want anything else.
• Fue un error, nada más. = It was a mistake, that’s all.

But in the structure Nada más + infinitive, it means as soon as:

• Nada más terminar, me fui. = As soon as I finished, I left.

So the meaning depends on the pattern, not just the words by themselves.

Yes. A few natural alternatives are:

• En cuanto llegué a casa, tuve que deshacer la maleta y guardar la ropa en el armario.
• Al llegar a casa, tuve que deshacer la maleta y guardar la ropa en el armario.
• Apenas llegué a casa, tuve que deshacer la maleta y guardar la ropa en el armario.

They all express a similar idea, though the feel is slightly different:

• Nada más llegar... = very immediate, very natural
• En cuanto llegué... = as soon as I arrived
• Al llegar... = on arriving / upon arriving
• Apenas llegué... = as soon as I arrived, sometimes with a stronger sense of immediacy

For Spain, Nada más llegar... sounds very idiomatic and natural.