Is Saudi Arabia softening its alcohol ban?
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 20 March 2024
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
An alcohol shop for diplomats has opened in Saudi Arabia. It’s a significant move in a country that has banned alcohol for over 70 years.
Some believe in order to transform the tourism economy it is a sign of things to come. In the meantime, Riyadh has become known for making some of the best non-alcohol cocktails in the world.
Is this a small policy change, or does it signal a wider relaxation of the rules? We hear from young Saudis about the generational divide in a country trying to change its image.
(Picture: A bartender prepares a non-alcoholic cocktail in a bar in Riyadh. Credit: Getty Images)
Presented and produced by Rick Kelsey
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I'm Sophia Smith Gaila and I'm Sachi Cole and we're on a quest to find out where in the world women are living their best lives. |
| 0:07.3 | We're here to shine a light on some surprising and inspiring places and what we can learn from them. |
| 0:12.0 | Where to be a woman from the BBC World Service. Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:27.1 | We're in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today. There are a few countries in the world with stricter alcohol laws. |
| 0:30.8 | Everyone just can have a good time, be themselves, and just enjoy and live the moment |
| 0:36.3 | without having any interrupting substance to change it for them. |
| 0:41.6 | But Saudi has just opened the door to a small number of people. |
| 0:46.0 | Me personally and my mates as well, we were like, okay, it's happened now. |
| 0:50.6 | We thought it happened way earlier, to be honest. |
| 0:53.1 | It's happened now. |
| 0:54.5 | Is this the start of something new as we move to the country's big vision of change in 2030, |
| 1:00.9 | or just a way of cracking down on a wider smuggling problem? |
| 1:04.6 | Over time, as people become more accustomed to the idea of alcohol being available, then we may see it extended further, |
| 1:14.6 | perhaps to special free zones or to the bigger projects as and when they begin to open. |
| 1:20.6 | We'll also be in a city that many argue produces the best alcohol-free cocktails in the world. Some of us didn't even know that these drinks have an alcoholic version abroad. |
| 1:32.3 | Like, for example, we always thought that mojito is just this lemony-flavored |
| 1:38.3 | mint beverage that we have in some coffee shops. |
| 1:41.3 | This is Business Daily with Rick Kelsey, looking at the impact of the first liquor store |
| 1:46.3 | to open in Saudi Arabia in more than 70 years. |
| 2:00.0 | Saudi Arabia has opened up a shop in the capital Riyadh selling alcohol to a select |
| 2:05.5 | band of non-Muslims expats, diplomats, and there'll be conditions. Buyers will have to wear |
| 2:12.5 | appropriate dress, have an alcohol pass. There's a quota per month. This is a small opening, but is it a signal |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.