Bélesta

Ariège · CC du Pays d'Olmes · INSEE 09047

A food shop, a school and somewhere to eat or drink.

Partly served 44.5/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 71 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Bélesta (INSEE 09047) is in Ariège (09), part of CC du Pays d'Olmes. Population 1,091 (2023). ^[1]

INSEE density class: Rural à habitat dispersé (level 6). ^[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/09047-belesta

Vitality score

Vitality score 44.5/100 — Partly served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 71 % of the 13,797 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.

Component	Value (0–1)	Weight	Contribution
Daily food	0.39	25	9.84
Social	0.7	20	14.09
Education	0.39	10	3.93
Health	0.2	10	1.97
Public & culture	0.39	5	1.97
Population trend	0.32	10	3.16
Housing mix	0.57	5	2.84

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 3 of 6

Eating out 1 of 1

Cafés and bars 1 of 1

Schools 1 of 3

Health 1 of 4

Public services 1 of 1

Culture 1 of 2

Sport 0 of 2

Everyday services 1 of 3

Lodging 1 of 2

One square per service type, shaded by how many: none, one, a few, five or more. A blank square means none was counted — the sources do not distinguish “none here” from “not counted”.

A food shop, a school and somewhere to eat or drink. ^[3,4]

1 × Bakery (boulangerie) (BOULANGERIE SYLVESTRE). ^[3,4]

1 × Butcher (boucherie). ^[3,4]

1 × Supermarket (CARREFOUR CONTACT). ^[3,4]

3 × Restaurant (ENZO PIZZA · CABANES DE FONTESTORBES · MARTI JIMENEZ JUAN). ^[3,4]

2 × Café / bar (PALAIS CATHARE). ^[4]

1 × Primary school (élémentaire) (ECOLE PRIMAIRE PUBLIQUE GPE SCOL BELESTA). ^[3]

1 × Pharmacy (PHARMACIE DE LA HAUTE VALLEE DE L HER). ^[3,4]

1 × Post office / agence postale (LA POSTE). ^[3]

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

2 × Fuel station (STATION SERVICE). ^[3]

1 × Hotel (PALAIS CATHARE). ^[3]

Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Restaurant.

Not found in the commune: Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Nursery school (maternelle), GP (médecin généraliste). ^[3,4]

All 25 service types, with per-source counts

Type	Count	Names	Sources
Bakery (boulangerie)	1	BOULANGERIE SYLVESTRE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Butcher (boucherie)	1		INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Grocery (épicerie / supérette)	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Supermarket	1	CARREFOUR CONTACT	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 2 [3,4]
Cheese shop (fromagerie)	0		INSEE SIRENE 0 [4]
Fishmonger	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Restaurant	3	ENZO PIZZA · CABANES DE FONTESTORBES · MARTI JIMENEZ JUAN	INSEE BPE 3 / INSEE SIRENE 4 [3,4]
Café / bar	2	PALAIS CATHARE	INSEE SIRENE 2 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	1	ECOLE PRIMAIRE PUBLIQUE GPE SCOL BELESTA	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Collège	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
GP (médecin généraliste)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Pharmacy	1	PHARMACIE DE LA HAUTE VALLEE DE L HER	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Nurse	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Dentist	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Post office / agence postale	1	LA POSTE	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Library	1	BIBLIOTHÈQUE MUNICIPALE DE BÉLESTA	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Cinema	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Gym / sports hall	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Swimming pool	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Bank	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Hairdresser	0		INSEE SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 0 [4]
Fuel station	2	STATION SERVICE	INSEE BPE 2 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3]
Hotel	1	PALAIS CATHARE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3]
Campsite	0		INSEE SIRENE 1 / INSEE BPE 0 [4]

Market and village life

A market is recorded here, but no source gives the day. ^[5]

Trajectory

1968: 1,330 peak 1975: 1,441 2023: 1,091 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 1,065 (2012) → 1,091 (2023): 2.4 % over 10 years. ^[6,1]

Population 1,337 (1990) → 1,091 (2023): -18.4 % over 30 years. ^[7,1]

Dwellings (2023): 874, of which 21.6 % second homes and 14.6 % vacant. ^[8]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Bakery, Food shop, Primary school, Pharmacy GP — 7.7 km NW Straight-line, from the mairie, in the direction given. Services in the same town share a spoke. Distance is not travel time: a pass or an estuary can double it.

Bakery (Bélesta): 0 km to the east (straight line). ^[9]

Food shop (Bélesta): 0 km to the north (straight line). ^[9]

GP (Lavelanet): 7.7 km to the north-west (straight line). ^[10]

Pharmacy (Bélesta): 0.2 km to the north-west (straight line). ^[9]

Primary school (Bélesta): 0.2 km to the north-east (straight line). ^[9]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 20.1

Days at or below 0 °C 64.4

Muggy days a summer 2.7

Each track runs from the 5th to the 95th percentile of the 34,141 communes with that measurement; the tick is the median. A value beyond either end sits at the end and is marked ▸.

An average of 20 days a year at or above 30 °C and 64 days at or below 0 °C, over 22 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[11]

Measured at the LERAN weather station, 9.8 km away at 391 m; the village itself is at 500 m. ^[11]

The village sits 109 m above the station, so each day's reading was shifted by 5.7 °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 3 days a summer. ^[11]

Humidity measured at LERAN, 9.8 km away at 391 m, over 23 summers. ^[11]

That station sits 109 m below the village, so each day's humidity was shifted by 3.26 °C per km before the muggy days were counted. ^[11]

An average of 1,057 mm of rain a year, spread over 123 days — about 8.6 mm on a day it rains. ^[11]

Rainfall measured at BELESTA, 0.3 km away at 490 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[11]

What property sold for

123 houses sold between 2021 and 2025, at a median of 105,000 € — 925 € per m² of built surface. ^[12]

7 flats sold over the same window, at a median of 88,590 € — 681 € per m². ^[12]

The median across Ariège is 1,295 € per m², so this commune sits below it. ^[12]

These are recorded sale prices, not valuations or asking prices, and a median over five years spans five different markets. Built surface excludes land, which carries much of a rural property's value.

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 09047/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
DATAtourisme 2025-01— https://data.datatourisme.fr/13/a6156bce-2f0c-3857-a55a-ab7be48bc3ec— “Marché de Belesta”(unverified)
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 09047/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 09047/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 09047/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 09047
INSEE BPE 2025 — 09160
Météo-France daily climatology 1995-2024
DVF (DGFiP property transactions) 2021-2025

Villages like this one

Matched on size, density, second homes and which everyday shops and services are present — not on the score, so a village of the same kind that is doing better or worse shows up rather than being hidden.

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Saint-Mathieu	87	325 km N	1,085	47.2	Partly served	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 72 % · humidity 93 %
Morée	41	559 km N	1,077	42.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.summer 97 % · winter 89 %
Cussac	87	323 km N	1,152	35.5	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 93 % · humidity 100 %
Melrand	56	688 km NW	1,598	52.6	Partly served	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 64 % · winter 70 % · humidity 86 %
Piégut-Pluviers	24	318 km N	1,180	51.8	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.summer 97 % · winter 89 %
Saint-Bonnet-de-Joux	71	445 km NE	830	60.9	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 88 % · humidity 93 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Piégut-Pluviers	24	318 km N	1,180	51.8	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.summer 97 % · winter 89 %
Cussac	87	323 km N	1,152	35.5	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 93 % · humidity 100 %
Saint-Mathieu	87	325 km N	1,085	47.2	Partly served	Similar summers, milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 72 % · humidity 93 %
Saint-Bonnet-de-Joux	71	445 km NE	830	60.9	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 88 % · humidity 93 %
Morée	41	559 km N	1,077	42.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.summer 97 % · winter 89 %
Melrand	56	688 km NW	1,598	52.6	Partly served	Cooler summers and milder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 64 % · winter 70 % · humidity 86 %

Sort and compare these on the full list →

…and in much the same climate

The same match on size and services, narrowed to communes whose summers, winters and summer humidity are all close to Bélesta's. All three are required, so this section is absent for the 11.8 % of communes with no humidity station near enough to measure: two temperature axes alone cannot tell a muggy coast from a dry one.

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Cussac	87	323 km N	1,152	35.5	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 93 % · humidity 100 %
Saint-Bonnet-de-Joux	71	445 km NE	830	60.9	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 88 % · humidity 93 %
Jouet-sur-l'Aubois	18	468 km N	1,303	45.5	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 88 % · humidity 100 %
Lamure-sur-Azergues	69	406 km NE	1,048	55.4	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 87 % · winter 95 % · humidity 100 %
Bonnat	23	381 km N	1,357	44.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 90 % · winter 88 % · humidity 86 %
Varzy	58	508 km N	1,069	45.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 88 % · humidity 86 %

Elsewhere

Wikipedia (en) ·Wikipedia (fr) · INSEE dossier complet · OpenStreetMap · Web search · Map

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/09047-belesta