Saudi Arabia prepares to open liquor store, but only for diplomats

Saudi Arabia is about to open its first liquor shop in decades as it increasingly loosens social restrictions – but alcohol will only be sold to diplomats.

The kingdom plans to open the licensed store in the coming weeks in Riyadh, where non-Muslim diplomats will be allowed to buy alcohol, according to foreign officials in the Saudi capital, who are familiar with the matter.

Although a baby step, the measure highlights how delicate the task of modernizing Saudi Arabia is and the challenges it poses to the kingdom’s leadership, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He has already eased some social restrictions, reversing a ban on women driving and permitting public entertainment, music and mixing of genders.

The influence of religious authorities that had enforced a strict moral code have been waning, while Prince Mohammed is opening the country to more foreign visitors as part of a plan to diversify the oil-dependent economy.

Historically in Saudi Arabia — a Muslim country where Islamic clergy has wielded significant influence over daily life and how laws are implemented — alcohol has only been sold on the black market or obtained by diplomatic mail. Its consumption is strictly forbidden in Islam for its impact on mind.

Rumors have long swirled that Saudi was weighing whether to allow alcohol as part of the country’s so-called Vision 2030 plans to wean the economy off oil and rely more on industries like tourism and entertainment. It had previously been reported that wine, cocktails and champagne may be allowed at Neom, the Vision 2030’s crown jewel project on the Red Sea. But government officials have previously denied any plans to start selling alcohol in the country as part of a push to attract more foreign tourists.

When the store opens —  at the Diplomatic Quarter, in the southwest of the Saudi capital where most foreign officials live and work —  diplomats will need to get clearance through a mobile app administered by Saudi authorities and will be subject to limits on how much they can purchase, the people said, asking not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Liquor was banned across the country after an intoxicated Saudi Prince shot a British diplomat in the 1950s following a party at the embassy.

The government’s Center of International Communication said a new regulatory framework was being introduced to “counter the illicit trade of alcohol goods and products received by diplomatic missions.”