Con tanto viento, apenas podía pestañear en la playa.

Con here means something like with or given in the sense of because of / in those conditions.

So Con tanto viento sets the scene:

• With so much wind
• Given how windy it was
• In such windy conditions

This is a very natural Spanish way to introduce the circumstances before the main idea.

You could compare:

• Con este calor, no puedo dormir. = With this heat, I can’t sleep.
• Con tanta gente, era difícil entrar. = With so many people, it was hard to get in.

It does not mean physical accompaniment here. It is more about the situation or conditions.

Both mucho viento and tanto viento are possible, but they are not exactly the same.

• mucho viento = a lot of wind
• tanto viento = so much wind

Tanto adds emphasis. It often suggests that the amount is remarkable or has a consequence.

In this sentence, that consequence is expressed in the second part:

• Con tanto viento, apenas podía pestañear...

So tanto fits especially well because the strong wind caused a problem.

Also notice the position:

• tanto viento = tanto goes before the noun

And because viento is masculine singular, the form stays tanto.

Compare:

• tanta lluvia = so much rain
• tantos coches = so many cars
• tantas personas = so many people

Spanish often leaves out the article when talking about an amount of something in a general way.

So:

• tanto viento = so much wind
• mucha agua = a lot of water
• demasiado ruido = too much noise

Using el viento would point more to the wind as a specific thing, while tanto viento focuses on the quantity/intensity.

Compare:

• Había mucho viento. = There was a lot of wind.
• El viento era muy fuerte. = The wind was very strong.

Both are correct, but they frame the idea differently.

Here apenas means hardly or barely.

So it weakens the verb that follows:

• apenas podía pestañear = I could hardly / barely blink

It is a very common word in Spanish and is often used with:

• poder: apenas podía hablar
• verse / oírse: apenas se veía nada
• other verbs directly: apenas dormí

Be careful: in some contexts apenas can also mean as soon as, especially in literary or formal language:

• Apenas llegó, empezó a trabajar. = As soon as he arrived, he started working.

But in your sentence, the meaning is clearly hardly / barely.

Podía is the imperfect tense of poder, while pude is the preterite.

Here, podía is used because the sentence describes an ongoing situation or background condition in the past:

• the wind was blowing
• the speaker was on the beach
• during that time, blinking was difficult

The imperfect is very common for:

• background description
• repeated or continuous situations
• states and conditions

So:

• Con tanto viento, apenas podía pestañear en la playa. = This describes what things were like in that moment or period.

If you said apenas pude pestañear, that would sound more like:

• a specific completed event
• I barely managed to blink

That is possible in some contexts, but it gives a more punctual, event-like feeling. In your sentence, podía fits the descriptive scene better.

Because after poder, Spanish normally uses an infinitive.

Structure:

• poder + infinitive

Examples:

• puedo nadar = I can swim
• no podía dormir = I couldn’t sleep
• podremos salir = we will be able to leave

So:

• podía pestañear = was able to blink / could blink

This is the standard pattern, just like can + verb in English.

Yes, pestañear is a normal verb and means to blink.

It is perfectly natural in this sentence. A native speaker would understand it immediately.

Related words:

• pestaña = eyelash
• pestañear = to blink

You may also hear expressions like:

• cerrar los ojos = to close your eyes
• ni parpadear = not even blink

In many contexts, parpadear can also mean to blink, and learners often meet both verbs:

• parpadear
• pestañear

They overlap a lot, although parpadear can also be used for lights flashing:

• La luz parpadea. = The light is flickering.

For a person blinking, pestañear is absolutely fine.

Because en indicates location, while a usually indicates movement toward a place.

Here the sentence tells you where the speaker was:

• en la playa = on/at the beach

Compare:

• Estaba en la playa. = I was at the beach.
• Fui a la playa. = I went to the beach.

So in your sentence, the action of barely being able to blink happened there, in that location.

Yes. Spanish word order is flexible, especially with introductory phrases like Con tanto viento.

These are all possible:

• Con tanto viento, apenas podía pestañear en la playa.
• Apenas podía pestañear en la playa con tanto viento.
• En la playa, con tanto viento, apenas podía pestañear.

The original version sounds very natural because it first gives the cause/background:

• Con tanto viento... and then the result:
• ...apenas podía pestañear...

That order is especially good for storytelling and description.

The comma separates the introductory phrase from the main clause.

• Con tanto viento, = background condition
• apenas podía pestañear en la playa. = main statement

In Spanish, this kind of comma is very common and helps readability. It is similar to English punctuation in sentences like:

• With so much wind, I could barely blink on the beach.

Sometimes you may see sentences without that comma in informal writing, but using it here is standard and clear.

Yes, definitely.

• Con tanto viento, apenas podía pestañear en la playa.
• Hacía tanto viento que apenas podía pestañear en la playa.

Both are natural, but they are structured differently.

Con tanto viento:

• focuses on the conditions
• shorter, more compact
• very good for setting the scene

Hacía tanto viento que...:

• explicitly says it was so windy that...
• makes the cause-and-result relationship very clear

Both are common. The version with con is a bit more concise and elegant in narration.

Yes, there is a difference.

• no podía pestañear = I couldn’t blink
• apenas podía pestañear = I could barely blink

So apenas podía pestañear suggests:

• blinking was possible, but only with great difficulty
• the speaker is emphasizing how hard it was, not saying it was completely impossible

This kind of nuance is very common in Spanish:

• no veía nada = I couldn’t see anything
• apenas veía nada = I could hardly see anything

So apenas often sounds slightly more precise and vivid than a simple negative.