A 1967 royal decree strictly forbids the sale or gift of alcoholic beverages to Muslims, who account for 98 per cent of the population in this North African state. Offenders are liable to a prison sentence of up to six months and a fine of 150 to 500 dirhams.
Yet sales and consumption are widely tolerated. Supermarkets enforce no restrictions on alcohol sales and bars in Moroccos cities make no attempt to hide the sale of alcoholic drinks to clients, Muslim or otherwise.
Yet another Moroccan contradiction complicates matters: production of alcohol is allowed by state law.
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