Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal had ordered the change as part of his efforts to make the names match the culture and heritage of Makkah.

Sahl Malaibari, spokesman of the services agencies at the Makkah municipality, said many commercial establishments including wedding halls have already changed their foreign names.

“A wedding hall that used to carry the name ‘Marbella’ on the Ring Road has now been changed to Al-Dhikra Al-Khaledah (Eternal Memory) after the prince suggested the change when he opened the third Makkah Literary Forum there,” he said.

“Another wedding hall's name was changed from ‘Marseilles’ to ‘Mamlakati’ (My Kingdom).”

“We are in the holiest spot on earth, the place where the first revelation was given, beginning with Arabic word ‘iqra’ (read), and where the last Prophet, who is an Arab, was born,” the prince said before issuing his order.

“I wonder how we can use non-Arabic names for our homes, buildings, places, establishments and streets and write them in foreign scripts. So I desire a name change not just for this hall, but in all cities and governorates in the province.”

The prince then ordered all muhafaza governors, heads of rural administration, and mayors and municipal chairmen and the Ministry of Commerce to start changing signboards in all streets in the province to Arabic.

“If the name is to be written anywhere in a non-Arabic script, it should be in letters smaller than the Arabic name and below it, not parallel to it,” Prince Khaled said.

“Only six months is allowed to complete the task and I will hold accountable all officials from the governor's office to the municipal and rural centers for any failure.”

The prince added that culture would play a big role in strategies for Makkah over the next 10 years.

“Inspectors from the Markets Monitoring Department patrol the streets continuously to discover if any shop is carrying a foreign name,” Malaibari added.

The shop owners have been given one more week to change the names. The names should be written in large Arabic letters, and English should be written in small letters below the Arabic writing, he said.