Mis padres quieren viajar al sureste este verano para descansar cerca del mar.

In Spanish, padres can mean either:

• fathers in some contexts, or
• parents when referring to mother and father together

In everyday Spanish, mis padres normally means my parents.

If you specifically wanted to say my fathers, the context would usually make that clear.

Because padres is plural, the possessive has to be plural too.

• mi padre = my father
• mis padres = my parents

Spanish possessives agree with the noun in number:

• mi / mis
• tu / tus
• su / sus

They do not change for the gender of the thing owned in this form.

Quieren viajar means they want to travel.

This is a very common Spanish pattern:

• querer + infinitive

So:

• quieren = they want
• viajar = to travel

Together:

• quieren viajar = they want to travel

This works like:

• quiero comer = I want to eat
• queremos salir = we want to go out

Because the subject is mis padres, which is plural.

The verb querer has to agree with the subject:

• mi padre quiere = my father wants
• mis padres quieren = my parents want

So quieren is the third person plural form.

After querer, Spanish normally uses an infinitive if the same subject does both actions.

Here, my parents are the ones who want and also the ones who travel, so Spanish uses:

• quieren viajar

Not:

• quieren viajan ❌

This is the same idea as:

• I want to sleep → quiero dormir
• They want to rest → quieren descansar

Because a + el contracts to al.

So:

• a el sureste → al sureste

This contraction is required in standard Spanish.

A similar contraction appears later in the sentence:

• de el mar → del mar

The only common exception is when el is part of a proper name, such as:

• a El Salvador
  not al Salvador

Al sureste means to the southeast or to the southeastern area.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• traveling toward the southeast
• traveling to the southeast region
• traveling to a place in the southeast

In this sentence, it most naturally suggests going to the southeast area for a summer trip.

In Spanish, time expressions like este verano, este año, esta semana, and este mes often do not need a preposition.

So Spanish says:

• este verano = this summer
• este año = this year

English often uses in, but Spanish usually does not here.

You may hear en verano, but that means more generally in summer / during summer, not specifically this summer.

Because este here is a demonstrative adjective meaning this.

In Spanish, demonstrative adjectives usually go before the noun:

• este verano = this summer
• esta casa = this house
• estos días = these days

Also, este must agree with verano, which is masculine singular.

Para here expresses purpose or goal.

So:

• para descansar = in order to rest / to rest

This is another very common pattern:

• para + infinitive

Examples:

• Estudia para aprender. = He/She studies to learn.
• Fuimos a la playa para nadar. = We went to the beach to swim.

In your sentence, it explains why they want to travel.

Because it comes after para in a purpose structure:

• para + infinitive

So:

• para descansar = to rest / in order to rest

You do not conjugate the verb after para in this kind of structure.

Cerca de means near or close to.

So:

• cerca del mar = near the sea

Important: cerca is normally followed by de.

Examples:

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

So you should think of it as the expression cerca de.

Because Spanish often uses the definite article where English may not.

Here:

• de + el = del
• del mar = of the sea / by the sea / near the sea

So cerca del mar is the natural Spanish way to say near the sea.

De mar by itself would sound incomplete or unnatural here.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• cerca del mar = near the sea
• cerca de la playa = near the beach

The sea is the body of water; the beach is the shore. They are related, but not identical.

Spanish speakers choose one or the other depending on what they want to emphasize.

Because Spanish often uses the present tense to talk about:

• current intentions
• future plans
• scheduled or expected future actions

So mis padres quieren viajar este verano means that right now, they want to travel this summer.

This is very natural in both Spanish and English:

• My parents want to travel this summer.

If you wanted, you could also express the future in other ways, but the present is completely normal here.

Some parts are flexible, but the original order is very natural.

Original:

• Mis padres quieren viajar al sureste este verano para descansar cerca del mar.

You could move some time or purpose phrases for emphasis, for example:

• Este verano, mis padres quieren viajar al sureste...
• Mis padres quieren viajar este verano al sureste...

But not every change sounds equally natural. The original version is smooth and neutral.

In this sentence as written, no written accent marks are needed.

Words like:

• padres
• quieren
• viajar
• sureste
• este
• verano
• para
• descansar
• cerca
• mar

are all correctly written without an accent mark.

That can be useful to notice, because learners often expect a word like quieren or viajar to have one, but they do not.