General view of the Grand Mosque during the Hajj pilgrimage in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on June 4, 2025. (Photo: Saudi Press Agency/Reuters)
Saudi Arabia has announced a new development project around the Grand Mosque in Mecca aimed at increasing its capacity by about one million worshipers, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The project, called King Salman Gate, will cover a total area of 12 million square meters near the Grand Mosque, toward which Muslims around the world turn to pray, the SPA reported Wednesday. It will include residential, cultural and services complexes, and will accommodate nearly 900,000 additional people in indoor and outdoor spaces. The cost and timeline for completion were not specified.
The Gulf monarchy, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is committed to a vast reform program intended to transform the kingdom into a hub for business and tourism, especially of the religious kind. The holy city of Mecca, which already welcomes millions of Muslim pilgrims each year, is undergoing massive and unprecedented development, with the goal of reaching 30 million worshipers by 2030.
The Masar project, funded by the Public Investment Fund, notably includes the construction of at least 40,000 new hotel rooms.
Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, generates billions of dollars each year from the hajj and umrah, pilgrimages taken yearly to the cities. Last January, Riyadh opened the real estate sector in Mecca and Medina — Islam’s two holiest cities — to foreign investors for the first time, lifting restrictions that had previously limited ownership to Saudis only.
