The child was baptised Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa, honouring a number of saints and relatives, and styled Princess of Brazil as the heir presumptive to the Portuguese throne.

Her brother Joseph married Ferdinand's half-sister, the Spanish Infanta Mariana Victoria, who had been rejected as a bride for Louis XV.

During their time as Prince and Princess of the Asturias, Ferdinand and Barbara became the target of the opposition known as the Spanish party, in parallel with Spain's deteriorating relations with Portugal.

[3] Barbara was not considered beautiful by her contemporaries, and her homely looks were thought by observers to have caused her future husband a visible shock when he was first presented to her.

[2] Upon their succession, Barbara was exposed to attempts to drive a political wedge between her and Ferdinand, engineered by, among others, supporters of the Queen Dowager, and she formed an alliance with three members of the Spanish party, who had been in opposition during the previous regime, Ensenada, Huescar and Carvajal.

However, in contrast to her predecessor as queen, Barbara did not like to flaunt her influence over her spouse and the government policy, and she made a moderately positive impression upon the public.

[3] She was not as self-assured, nor did she have as much political ambition as Elisabeth Farnese, and her policy focused mainly upon a friendly relationship between Spain and Portugal in cooperation with her father and the Portuguese ambassador Belmonte.