In São Paulo, it is possible to observe groups claiming rights through the occupation of public spaces. In the year 2020, the city (and the entire global context) experienced the incidence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused an unprecedented health crisis that also profoundly affected the public space and tourism activities. On this point, and in this context, this research aims to analyze the narratives constructed by social movements, collectives and activists about the city, and how these groups have managed tourism in their discourses and practices. This research is structured as an exploratory, descriptive and interpretive work based on the theoretical and methodological framework of urban anthropology. Through ethnographic incursions they have made it possible to understand the complex articulation of activists, collectives and social movements and how they have acted in relation to many activities, including tourism. Through the many meetings of these social groups and all their dialogic construction of knowledge about the city and tourism, also considering the historical influences of social movements in their territories, it is possible to notice the existence of a multiplicity of ideas, practices and projects, producing different perceptions about the tourism activity in the city.