Saudi liquor store fuels expat speculation about relaxing alcohol ban

As a foreigner living in Saudi Arabia, it generally doesn't take too long for conversation to turn to the one topic everyone is really interested in: alcohol.

Booze has been banned in Saudi since 1952, meaning that residents in search of a drink must often jet off to nearby Dubai or Bahrain to find one legally.

But the prospect of sipping a Mojito at one of the brand-new beach resorts popping up along the country's Red Sea coast became more real last week as it emerged that the government opened a licensed alcohol store in Riyadh. The catch ­— it's only for non-Muslim diplomats.

Riyadh's expatriates are now wondering if this is a test to determine whether the rules can be loosened up further.

Since taking power a decade ago, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — or MBS, as he's more widely known — has pursued an ambitious plan to remake one of the world's most closed off-economies into a global tourist destination. He's neutered the religious police, reversed a ban on women driving, and allowed film, music, and public entertainment to thrive. It's assumed in the expatriate community that it's only a matter of time before alcohol is legalised.

So far, the government has insisted that this isn't in the cards. Officials say they don't see any issue attracting visitors to a dry country, and haven't fielded any complaints from tourists.

It's not that alcohol is entirely absent in Saudi. While illegal, there is still a black market in moonshine (of widely varying quality) and branded imports (vastly more expensive). Embassies are also able to import booze in diplomatic shipments — meaning non-Muslim diplomats could already stock up.

As a policy initiative, the new store strikes a delicate balance: it allows the licensed sale of alcohol by a state-controlled entity inside Saudi, without changing the rules around who is permitted to buy it. That lets the government assure more conservative citizens that nothing has changed, while signalling to expatriates that a transformation may be coming.

Over the next decade, Saudi Arabia is set to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, the World Expo 2030, and the FIFA World Cup 2034. Lifting the ban on booze would no doubt help attract visitors to those events, while giving the kingdom an edge in its ability to compete with the United Arab Emirates over expat talent.

Perhaps intoxicated by the rush of being able to legally buy alcohol in Riyadh, some diplomats outside the store described the facility to Bloomberg as "immaculate" and "beautiful." Security is tight — no guests are allowed, and customers have to put their phones in locked bags so they can't take pictures. Quotas, however, are less strict. Diplomats are allowed to buy 40 litres of spirits, or 80 bottles of wine or 240 litres of beer a month, according to store rules seen by Bloomberg.

The government says the store is about controlling imports of banned substances. But it's not hard to imagine that access could be gradually widened.

Until then, most Saudi residents and visitors will have to keep guessing — over mocktails.