The King of Saudi Arabia, Salman, has cut short a holiday on the French Riviera, where the closure of a beach for his security, caused an uproar.
King Salman and his entourage boarded a flight from Nice airport to the Moroccan city of Tangiers, eight days after arriving in southern France for what was billed as a three-week luxury vacation.
The Mirandole beach is directly below King Salman’s private villa.
With him were at least half of his 1,000 strong entourage, Regional Officer, Philippe Castanet said.
“We can assume that the king had ended his stay at Golfe-Juan,” he said, referring to the Cote d’Azur town of Vallauris Golfe-Juan where the monarch’s luxury 5 million Pounds and holiday villa is located.
More than 100,000 people signed a petition against the closure of the public beach at Vallauris.
Critics of the move said it was a breach of French laws on equality.
A Saudi source quoted by Reuters said that the king’s departure was part of his holiday programme and not connected to the media coverage the visit had attracted.
Mr Castanet said that a temporary lift connecting the beach with the villa, which had also angered local residents, would be removed in the coming weeks.
