Castellar

Identity

Castellar (INSEE 06035) is in Alpes-Maritimes (06), part of CA de la Riviera Française. Population 996 (2023). ^[1]

INSEE density class: Ceintures urbaines (level 4). ^[2]

Data vintages: INSEE BPE 2025 · INSEE SIRENE 2026-09 · INSEE census (RP) 2023 · INSEE COG 2026 · INSEE density grid 2026 · DATAtourisme 2026-10-22.

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/06035-castellar

Vitality score

Vitality score 43.6/100 — Partly served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 72 % of the 14,335 communes of a similar size.

Compare this with communes of a similar size. The score measures how well a place is served relative to its own size band, and larger communes score higher as a rule — so it reads meaningfully against another village, and misleadingly against a town.

Measured but not scored in this model: Market. See the methodology for why.

Services

A school and somewhere to eat or drink, but no food shop. ^[3,4]

3 × Restaurant (FOOD TRUCK PIZZETTA · LA FERME SAINT BERNARD · LA VEILLEE). ^[3,4]

1 × Café / bar (L'ORMEAU). ^[4]

1 × Primary school (élémentaire) (ECOLE PRIMAIRE LASCARIS). ^[3]

1 × Library (BIBLIOTHÈQUE DE CASTELLAR). ^[3]

1 × Hairdresser. ^[3,4]

Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Grocery (épicerie / supérette), 2 × Restaurant, 1 × Hairdresser.

Not found in the commune: Bakery (boulangerie), Butcher (boucherie), Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Supermarket, Nursery school (maternelle), GP (médecin généraliste), Pharmacy, Post office / agence postale. ^[3,4]

Market and village life

Weekly market (reported, unverified): Sunday. ^[5]

Trajectory

Population 963 (2012) → 996 (2023): 3.4 % over 10 years. ^[6,1]

Population 638 (1990) → 996 (2023): 56.1 % over 30 years. ^[7,1]

Dwellings (2023): 627, of which 16.4 % second homes and 13.9 % vacant. ^[8]

Access and surroundings

Bakery (Menton): 0.9 km to the north-west (straight line). ^[9]

Food shop (Menton): 0.8 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Menton): 0.8 km to the south (straight line). ^[9]

Pharmacy (Menton): 0.8 km to the south-west (straight line). ^[9]

Primary school (Castellar): 0.4 km to the north-east (straight line). ^[10]

Climate

An average of 17 days a year at or above 30 °C and 1 day at or below 0 °C, over 30 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[11]

Measured at the MENTON weather station, 2.1 km away at 216 m; the village itself is at 336 m. ^[11]

The village sits 120 m above the station, so each day's reading was shifted by 5.21 °C per km of altitude before the days were counted. Expect the result to be within about 0.68 °C. ^[11]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 25 days a summer. ^[11]

Humidity measured at MENTON, 2.1 km away at 216 m, over 24 summers. ^[11]

That station sits 120 m below the village, so each day's humidity was shifted by 4.57 °C per km before the muggy days were counted. ^[11]

An average of 780 mm of rain a year, spread over 63 days — about 12.4 mm on a day it rains. ^[11]

Rainfall measured at MENTON, 2.1 km away at 216 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[11]

Uncertainties

The market day comes from DATAtourisme and has not been confirmed by a second source. ^[5]

References

1. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 06035/2023
2. INSEE density grid 2026
3. INSEE BPE 2025
4. INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
5. DATAtourisme 2024-02— https://data.datatourisme.fr/13/30080afa-f895-3c2c-8c97-8758e6c8ecac— “Marché de Castellar, tous les Dimanches, produits locaux et artisanaux”(unverified)
6. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 06035/2012
7. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 06035/1990
8. INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 06035/logement/2023
9. INSEE BPE 2025 — 06083
10. INSEE BPE 2025 — 06035
11. Météo-France daily climatology 1995-2024