A Saudi woman took to Twitter this week to vent her frustration at being denied entrance to a Starbucks in Riyadh.
The Starbucks branch had posted a sign saying, "Please no entry for ladies only. Send your driver to order. Thank you."
According to The Independent, the local religious police had ordered the ban after noticing a segregation wall had collapsed.
Restaurants in Saudi Arabia have separate areas, where single men are kept apart from women and families. Apparently the makeshift dividing wall in this Starbucks hadn't held up to the strain caused by large surges of customers.
A spokesperson said the Starbucks is being updated to comply better with local regulations, according to The Independent .
Of course, segregation is nothing new in the conservative kingdom. Women are not allowed to apply for drivers' licenses and require the permission of male guardians to travel and open bank accounts.
However, following a decree by former King Abdullah, women stood for local elections for the first time in the kingdom's history last December.
Regardless of VERY SLOW progress, it looks like women in Riyadh will just have to wait before they enter this Starbucks again …
