Born in Madrid, García Cantarero began his career with UD San Sebastián de los Reyes, where he helped the side achieve promotion to Segunda División B in 1998.
[2] García Cantarero was the responsible of giving Fernando Torres his professional debut on 27 May 2001, in a 1–0 home win over neighbours CD Leganés.
[7] For 2004–05, he returned to the third tier with Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa,[8] but was dismissed in February 2005 with the team 11 points off the play-offs, and agreed with the cash-strapped club that his payout be in instalments into the next year.
[12] He was appointed at Antequera CF, newly relegated to Spain's fourth tier, in June 2009,[13] but was dismissed before the end of the calendar year for not meeting the aims of challenging for promotion.
[14] In February 2010, García Cantarero crossed the Atlantic again to lead Juventud Retalteca, last-placed in Guatemala's top flight,[15] and the following year took the reins at CD Victoria in Honduras.