Paradela reservoir adds a finishing touch to the beautifully scenic landscape of the valley of the Beredo stream, which can be seen as one faces north from the top of the dam wall. Especially in spring and early summer, with the explosion of colour from the yellow gorse and purple heather, the greens of the extensive tracts of oak woods and water-meadows close to the small clusters of houses, in contrast to the mirror of water and the surrounding mountains, all combine to give this place an extraordinary beauty.

Paradela dam was the first to be built in the Cávado basin with operation starting in 1956 and with a major impact on landscape as well as influencing the local microclimate. It has peculiarities compared with other dams on the Cávado in that it has a riprap construction, with the wall being made of heaped up rocks. This is believed to be the largest dam with this type of engineering in Europe.