Who is behind Tablao de Carmen?
For the flamenco show to happen every evening, and for our Andalusian cuisine to reach the tables of our guests each and every day, a team of professionals works across every area of this house. The kitchen, the flamenco artists, the front-of-house team, and the office coordinate every afternoon so that Tablao de Carmen continues to be the benchmark for the flamenco experience in Barcelona.
The office
At the helm of Tablao de Carmen is Mimo Agüero, born in Santander and raised in Barcelona 58 years ago. Her father, the flamenco guitarist Juan Antonio Agüero, gave her her first contact with flamenco — she still remembers listening to him practise at home. Through him she discovered the world of Madrid’s tablaos, and through her mother, a founding partner of Tablao de Carmen, she joined the newly opened venue at the age of 21 to work in promotions. After many years abroad, she returned in 2015 to take the reins.
Alongside her in the management is Augustin de Beaucé. Born in Paris, he has been dedicated to flamenco in Barcelona for 20 years. He works closely with Carlota Fontela, who has been in charge of reservations for the past two years. A fundamental part of the office work involves marketing and social media content, handled by Luana Alvear in collaboration with external professionals who help the tablao communicate with the world and spread flamenco culture across digital channels, including the website and social networks.
The kitchen and front of house
Tablao de Carmen has always placed great importance on good cooking — it is an essential part of the experience we take care of in every detail. Leading the kitchen is Rosalía Cantero, from Jaén, who has been with us for ten years and directs a team of seven. José runs the morning team, responsible for the first preparations of the day as well as receiving and storing all supplies and catering for the front-of-house staff and artists. In the afternoon, alongside Rosalía, several cooks finish preparing and plating the three menus we offer.
Our maître Javier Bolance is responsible for coordinating the kitchen and the dining room service. As head of the waiting staff, he organises the tables and ensures that every guest receives excellent treatment — no small task given that each sitting receives an average of 95 guests, and we run two sittings a day.
Another key figure in the day-to-day running of the tablao is Tomás Bel, who handles staffing, maintenance, and supplier relations.
The flamenco artists
Every evening, across two sittings, a group of flamenco artists give everything they have on our stage. The company that performs at the tablao is not fixed — the line-up can be different every night. Unlike other performance formats, in a tablao the cuadro is made up of independent artists who create the show through improvisation within the structures of flamenco.
On the singing side, we are fortunate to count on two of the great voices of Catalan flamenco: Antonio Fernández and Mariano Santiago. The flamenco guitar is in the hands of Rafael Perona ‘Falete’ and Carlos López ‘el Arenque’, both also from Barcelona. In dance, the experience and mastery of Joni Cortés and Paloma Fantova embraces the freshness of young Catalan dancers such as Alba Rubio and María Martín. On many evenings the flamenco company is also joined by other local artists: Damián del Singla, Jenny García, Noelia Lucas, Teresa Salazar, Francesc Amador, Rubén Heras, Ainhoa Garrido, and a long list of others.
Mention must also be made of the sound team, led by Zalo, who ensures that the force of the footwork, the strum of the guitar, and the raw cry of the voice fill the tablao with flamenco.
A great team that works every day so that our visitors can experience something as unrepeatable as a tablao performance, in a venue as emblematic and historic as Tablao de Carmen in Barcelona.
