Saudi Arabia Opens First Liquor Store in 70 Years for Diplomats

The government of Saudi Arabia has reportedly opened its first liquor store since alcohol was banned in the early 1950s. The store, a modest establishment adjacent to a supermarket in the Diplomatic Quarter of the capital city Riyadh, exclusively serves non-Muslim foreign diplomats.

The landmark liquor store opening was kept fairly quiet until sources within Saudi Arabia began leaking details to foreign media this week. On Wednesday, Reuters reported the operation was still in the planning stages, but on Thursday, an anonymous diplomat told Voice of America News (VOA) the liquor store was already open for business.

VOA’s diplomat compared the store to an “upscale duty-free shop at a major international airport.” The inventory included liquor, wine, and two brands of beer.

“Workers at the store asked customers for their diplomatic identifications and for them to place their mobile phones inside of pouches while inside. A mobile phone app allows purchases on an allotment system,” the diplomat reported.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Saudi media reported on Wednesday that the Kingdom’s rules for alcohol sales to foreign diplomats have been revised to counter “improper exchange of special goods and alcoholic beverages received by the embassies of Non-Muslim countries inside Saudi Arabia.”

The new regulations are supposedly intended to “ensure that all diplomats of non-Muslim embassies have access to these special products and spirits within specified quotas and via a regulated process that prohibits illegal exchange activities.”

The implication was that foreign diplomats were bringing in too much bootleg liquor and, according to VOA, some of them even brewed their own booze within their residences, so the Saudis decided to open some small, tightly regulated liquor stores to service their needs.

Alcohol is forbidden under Islamic law and is especially frowned upon in Saudi Arabia. In 1951, a Saudi prince named Mishari got drunk and shot British Vice-Consul Cyril Ousman, prompting King Abdulaziz ibn Saud to ban the sale of alcohol.

The current government of Saudi Arabia, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), has been working to modernize the Kingdom and make it more welcoming to foreign investors and diplomats. The quiet little liquor stores evidently are a means of indulging the appetites of foreign visitors in a more formal and regulated manner, superseding the old habit of looking the other way while bottles of liquor were smuggled into Riyadh through diplomatic pouches.

The Financial Times (FT) said on Wednesday that its correspondents have seen the operating guidelines for the liquor store, and just as VOA’s diplomatic source described, the staff has been instructed to verify that only registered non-Muslim diplomatic personnel may enter, shopping will be conducted through a special smartphone app, and no photography is allowed on the premises.

“The guidelines lay out a points system to restrict monthly alcohol sales for registered individuals, allowing for up to 40 liters of spirits, 80 liters of wine or 240 liters of beer,” FT said.

According to FT, “speculation has swirled” within Saudi Arabia that MBS might liberalize the alcohol rules even further, possibly after using the tightly controlled diplomat liquor store to test the fermented waters. Possibilities include setting up similar establishments to cater to Red Sea tourists and serving alcohol aboard Riyadh Air, Saudi Arabia’s splashy new national carrier, which is expected to begin operations in 2025.

MBS and his “Saudi Vision 2030” program to open Saudi society while diversifying the economy away from oil include some ambitious efforts to court foreign tourism. The futuristic $500 billion  mega-city of NEOM is an example. It is difficult to imagine that alcohol will not be for sale somewhere inside that multi-billion dollar two-kilometer horizontal skyscraper.

On Wednesday, NEOM’s planners announced plans for a luxury tourist resort called Zardun, to be located on the shores of the Gulf of Aqaba. Zardun will boast three luxury hotels, beautiful nature preserves, and a plethora of enticing activities. 

In June, MBS promised that NEOM would “compete with Miami in terms of entertainment, culture, sports and retail,” in addition to having a resident population over 30 times the size of New York City. Miami-Dade is not a dry county.