Approximately 80,000 Moroccans fought in Franco’s Rebel army during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). The Rebels (who strategically dubbed themselves “the Nationalists”) cast the war as a “Holy Crusade,” which pitted together Christians and Muslims against the “godless” Republicans. Throughout the war and for most of his dictatorship, Franco sought to burnish Spain’s image as a friend of Islam and as the standard-bearer of the Muslim civilization of al-Andalus (medieval Muslim Iberia). This multifaceted Francoist initiative was not just a discursive project; it also involved the construction of mosques in Morocco and Spain, diplomatic outreach to Muslim countries, and the sponsorship of Moroccan pilgrims traveling to Mecca for the hajj. My paper will examine the first pilgrimage to Mecca sponsored by Franco, which took place in 1937, less than a year into the Spanish Civil War. At the center of my paper will be a fascinating but neglected source: al-Rihla al-makkiyya (The Meccan Journey), written by Ahmad al-Rahuni, one of the most important Moroccan historians of the first half of the twentieth century. Franco chose al-Rahuni to lead the Moroccan delegation of pilgrims to Mecca, and al-Rahuni’s account of the journey was published by the Franco Institute for Hispano-Arab Studies in 1941. Under al-Rahuni’s leadership and Franco’s sponsorship, the Moroccan pilgrims first traveled to southern Spain, where they visited the monuments of al-Andalus. They then traveled by boat to Jeddah, making a stop in Tripoli, Libya, which was, at the time, under Italian colonial rule. After the pilgrimage to Mecca, the Moroccan pilgrims made stops in Rome and Spain, before returning to Tetouan, the capital of the Spanish Protectorate. Al-Rahuni’s text offers a multidirectional view of Mediterranean history in the 1930s, highlighting understudied aspects of modern North African and European history. First of all, the text bears witness to the collaboration between Spanish Fascists and the intellectual elite of northern Morocco. Second, the pilgrims’ tour of southern Spain, as guests of Franco’s army, illustrates the Francoist use of Andalusi history as a tool to justify its colonial presence in Morocco. Finally, the pilgrims’ stops in Tripoli, Saudi Arabia, and Rome offer al-Rahuni opportunities for transnational and transcolonial reflection. The Moroccan scholar reflects on the differences between Libyans, Saudis, and Moroccans, and between Spanish colonialism and Italian colonialism.