[5] Margarida Marinho was the first actress reported to participate in the telenovela, in the role of Antónia Vidal, one of the main characters of the original plot.

[8] Santa Bárbara originates from the actual spiritual figure Saint Barbara, believed to be the protector of the miners, which is one of the main plots.

Santa Bárbara has the hard task to maintain the high ratings left by the previous telenovela Jardins Proibidos.

From the depths of the earth to the heights of high society, Santa Bárbara is the story of Gabriela (Benedita Pereira), a young woman whom everything is taken and returns to regain it all.

The fictional town of Santa Bárbara, once consigned to oblivion, is again on the map with the official reopening of its old gold mines, operated by a consortium led by the powerful Antónia Vidal (São José Correia), a woman who rose in life at the cost of two marriages that ended badly for both husbands - the first died in an accident at the very least suspect and the current dies at her hands, shortly after the opening of the mine that is now under the exclusive control of Antónia and her obsessions.

Separated from Alexandre and her son, David (Gonçalo Oliveira), alone and with no apparent chance to continue her life in that town, unless closed in an asylum, Gabriela will have to run away and disappear.

With a golf course and a luxury hotel, repopulated with a young and enterprising population, with rural tourism, archaeological museum of ancient Roman mines, river beaches with water sports and large high-class holiday houses.

After years abroad where she won a fortune, Gabriela is back, determined not only to seek vengeance of Antónia but also to restore justice and peace in the town, without forgetting Alexandre and the hope to regain her lost love.