through the reconstruction of the history and memory of the social uses of the San Pedro del Tingo Municipal Balneario, located in the Chillos Valley in the vicinity of the consolidated urban area of Quito, the work analyses the tensions and fluctuating relations between local government, social groups and popular culture during the 20th century. Considers this entertainment equipment, curative practices within it and thermal resources as territories and disputed elements subject to power relations between social groups; with a special emphasis between the recreation of a rich and fluctuating popular world and the times of specific intervention on it. Part of three analysis axes: the curative use of water, leisure and entertainment practices and the creation of rural centres based on natural resources and tourism.