“Al-Ula [province] is home to Al-Hijr, a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2008, currently closed to tourists and visited only by a privileged few. Located in north-west Saudi Arabia, it consists of spectacular canyons and rock-carved tombs around Mada’in Salih, once known as Hegra. The oasis was a trading outpost of the Nabataean kingdom, 550km south of its capital, Petra, in modern-day Jordan. It includes remains of the Lihyanite culture and the Roman occupation. … The ten-year deal [to develop the area for international tourism] gives France an exclusive role in a project potentially worth tens of billions of euros in an area almost the size of Belgium.”