JEDDAH: Restaurants and cafes in Saudi Arabia are no longer required to have gender-segregated entrances, in a further easing of social restrictions in the conservative kingdom.
Eateries have long required one entrance for single men and another for women and families, in a country where the once-powerful religious police zealously enforced segregation in public places for decades.
The ministry of municipalities and rural affairs said on Twitter on Sunday it was eliminating several requirements for restaurants, including the need for an entrance for bachelors and a separate entrance for families.
It was unclear whether a restriction on seating inside restaurants will also be removed. Restaurants are currently segregated into a “family” section for those accompanied by women and a “singles” area for men, though many have quietly taken down the barriers in recent years.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has sought to project a moderate, business-friendly image as he seeks to boost investment.
He has clipped the powers of hardline clerics as he pursues a modernisation drive that has allowed mixed-gender music concerts and ended decades-long bans on cinemas and women drivers.
Until three years ago, the religious police had widespread fear in the kingdom, chasing men and women out of malls to pray and berating anyone seen mingling with the opposite sex.
The hardline enforcers of public morality are now largely out of sight. The reforms have been accompanied by a crackdown on activists, including women urging faster reform.
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