It all started one party night on Mallorca Street in Barcelona. Manu Pintado had just moved into a new apartment and was preparing his housewarming party in early 2020. The day before, he met Pepe, a rumba singer who often sang at Quilombo, a few minutes from the apartment, and they suggested he come to play. What was supposed to be a one-hour performance stretched out, turning the party into a concert and a show inside the apartment, baptized with the name Can Pepacio in honor of the artist.
Pintado, dedicated to the tech-startup field, and his flatmate, Manel Torrents, from real estate, realized that Pepe's ability to generate that atmosphere —"to make a fuss"— lacked channels to reach more people. "We told him: do you want us to set up an Instagram for you?" Pintado explains, and this intention to lend a hand to the rumba singer was the beginning of what is now Tacatra.
Pepe began to accumulate performances, first in bars and then at private parties and events. During the pandemic, with nightclubs closed, commissions for smaller celebrations also arrived. Then, demand grew, and Pintado and his circle even acted as chauffeurs to take him to gigs. Until the moment came when there weren't enough Pepes to cover all requests.
This demand gave birth to Tacatra. Along with Pintado, in 2024, DJ and sound technician Pol Rosario joined as co-founder, to boost a new vertical: precisely, that of DJs. Since then, the project has been taking shape until it became a digital platform that allows hiring "jaleos," the platform's flagship concept.
Thus, Tacatra functions as an artist agency specialized mainly in rumba and party music, with a dozen artists —including Pepe— and DJs. Clients can hire them for weddings, birthdays, private events, company parties, or any other celebration. As Rosario and Pintado claim, the difference with an artist booking agency is that "when someone hires with us, they are not hiring an artist from a marketplace: they are hiring Tacatra. If a musician fails, we guarantee a substitute." And it offers a seal of guarantee, according to Rosario: "It's not just about playing well; they have to know how to behave, have attitude, and know how to create a jaleo."
The business currently invoices around 120,000 euros annually and the goal is to reach 350,000 euros in 2026 and start taking the model outside of Catalonia. Furthermore, as Pintado argues, Tacatra can contribute to the expansion of Catalan rumba beyond the territory: "Outside of Catalonia, Catalan rumba is little known, and it can have a future".
Since that first night at Can Pepacio, Tacatra continues to grow and look for more Pepes, to continue "liándola" and expanding into new cities, like a startup that was born without intending to and that now works with the will to turn the "jaleo" into a scalable business.