The work in Spanish "Ali Bey's Travels in Africa and Asia" was recently presented in Rabat, in the presence of a host of intellectuals and academics.

In this work, Ali Bey describes the different countries he crossed and the various adventures he experienced during his journey, which led him at the beginning of the 19th century from Morocco to Turkey, passing through Libya, Cyprus, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Syria.

Roger Mimo, editor and translator of the book, stressed that this work "gives us a very interesting vision of Morocco at that time", because this Catalan adventurer makes a rigorous and detailed description of all the places he visited in Morocco.

In a similar statement, the Spanish ambassador to Rabat, Alberto Navarro, indicated that the work illustrates an era of collaboration and cooperation between Morocco and Spain, stressing that his country has always considered Morocco as a true gateway to Africa and the Arab world.

For her part, the president of the Moroccan-Spanish Friendship Circle, Aziza Bennani, affirmed that the objective of this cultural event, organised by the circle in collaboration with the Cervantes Institute of Rabat, is to contribute to the development of relations between Morocco and Spain to better "know our common historical heritage". Domingo Badia y Leblich, born in Barcelona in 1767, undertook voyages of exploration in Africa and the Orient under the names of Ali Bey El Abassi (1803-1807), then El-Hadj Ali Abou Othman (1817-1818). He is best known under the name of Ali Bey El Abassi, because it is under these two names that he visited Mecca, becoming one of the first Europeans to make this pilgrimage.

For the first time since 1814, the text presented on Monday is a complete account of Ali Bey's travels, including his preface, accompanied by recent photographs of the places mentioned by the author and new detailed maps of his itinerary.