The origins of Habana Abierta go back to a personal project of music duo Gema y Pável, who wanted to produce a compilation of everything they and their peers had been doing in Havana clubs with hardly any resources.
In July 1996 most of them travelled to Spain (except for Carlos Santos, Raúl Ciro and Alejandro Frómeta: Superávit) to showcase their music at several festivals and clubs, and very soon spurred interest among audiences and the media alike, and even well-known Spanish artists and musicians.
BMG Ariola asked Gema y Pável to come up with a project bringing a group of highly different singer-songwriters together on the album, based on the individuality of each member yet with combined expression of the diverse unity of Cuban music.
With 24 Horas, the second album with Habana Abierta, an eclectic line was followed with some tracks from previous recordings, with a more defined fusion between popular Cuban music and funk, reggae and hip-hop.
In January 2003, after six years in Spain, they returned to Cuba for a series of sell-out individual shows, with a performance by the Habana Abierta full line-up at La Tropical, playing to with over 10,000 people.