The city of Ilhéus, located in the south of the state of Bahia, is replaced by deep socio-spatial transformations. Changes associated in an inexorable way with tourism, important economical activity which links to the tendency of transforming area into merchandise. This way of thinking is based in the fact that tourism, as any human activity, brings some kind of change in the on the places once it is inserted in logical organized economical activity which demands the creation of infrastructure that is able to supply food, leisure, transportation, lodge, among other basic elements. Besides, as it dominates the space, its logic is imposed creating new spaces, reorganizing and rearranging its use. The development of this point is supported by the contradiction, which is grounded in the use of mercantile spaces locally, founding a movement that is going to give room to the consumption of the space consumption It means that the access to the use and appropriation of the space happens through the mediation of the market, emphasizing the role and strength of the soil property. The present research has as a fundamental objective to analyze the social and space changes that have been occurring in Ilhéus since the 1990's, period in which there was a strong unbalance in the productive sector, based on the cacao crops. This crisis induced the process of giving another meaning to tourism in Ilhéus. The hot humid tropical climate that helped the cacao plantation in the past, associated with a coast of approximately 100 kilometers of beaches, now are strong trademarks which attract tourists seeking leisure, sun and sea. To adapt itself to the tourism the city passed through an intense process of redefinition. Many streets were transformed into sidewalks, old buildings were restored and redefined. There was a great growth in the number of beach houses and closed condominiums along the coast. Also, there was an expressive growth in the number of resorts, hotels and inns. However, we can see that these changes are happening only in certain parts of the city. Other areas are still abandoned by the government. An example of this reality is the district of Teotônio Vilela located in the west zone of the city. Although this district does not take part in the process of remodeling to tourism and consequent mercantile use is a very necessary place. This space is thought to be used to confine the low income population. Actions to give more value to certain parts of the city were taken by the public power only in the places that interested the productive capital-sea coat areas, central region and historical places. Spaces like Teotônio Vilela are necessary to permit the valorization of other places of the city and their consequent mercantile use. The studied phenomenon it can be concluded that the sociospatial transformations in Islanders over the past twenty years have been promoted by tourism and tourism.
