what's with this?

So, there I was walking across a San Miguel de Allende shopping center when I saw these clouds.

As you know, I have been very pleased with my new camera's ability to pick up the complex texture of clouds.  And San Miguel de Allende serves up clouds like Maxim's serves up Coquilles Saint-Jacques.

Out came my camera.  And I started shooting while standing on the sidewalk.  Until I felt a tap on my shoulder.

It was one of the security men who hang around the mall.  In his patiently modulated Spanish (and my language-handicapped understanding), he asked if I was taking photographs of the parking lot.

My answer that I was photographing the clouds seemed like one of those Spock-Dr. McCoy conversations.  It was not logical.

He asked me to give him my camera.  Now, I am not that silly -- for the same reason I usually do not hand over my driver's license to police officers.  While it was still in my hands, I controlled the conversation.

But I showed him the cloud photographs -- and he was duly appreciative.  Only to quickly slip back into his Bad Cop role.  No photographs are allowed at the mall.

I had run into this before at a shopping center in Mexico City when merely putting my camera up to my eye had two mall guards on me.  When I asked why, they simply recited The Rule: No Photographs.

Even I could conjure up a reason in the crowded market.  The same reason museums restrict photography -- to avoid breaking the flow of pedestrians.

But, on the sidewalk of a shopping center parking lot?  It made no sense.  And the guard had no answer.  He simply recited The Rule: No Photographs.

Anyone else want to take a stab at the reasoning?  (I am fully cognizant that "reasoning" may not even be a factor in this calculation.)  I know at least three other bloggers who have encountered The Rule.

Thoughts?