The National Geographic Institute (IGN), as an organ competent to determine supraautonomic toponymy, that is, that affecting more than one autonomous community, as is the case of the Sierra de Toloño or Cantabria, has published the resolution of the administrative procedure followed to determine the correct location, extension and use of the toponyms Sierra de Cantabria and Sierra de Toloño. The procedure, initiated at the request of the Society Friends of Laguardia in January 2025, concludes a debate that has been in force for years on the names of this mountain alignment.
After an exhaustive analysis of the claims presented by 24 institutions representing different levels of the Administration and the private sector, in addition to the study of the documentation working in the National Geographic Institute, it has been resolved to maintain Sierra de Toloño as a geographical identifier and raise Sierra de Cantabria to the character of an alternative name, that is, with the same level of use and officiality as the previous one. The resolution coincides with the criterion expressed in its mandatory report by the Specialized Commission on Geographical Names of the Higher Geographical Council.
This resolution, which is binding on all the Public Administrations integrated into the National Cartographic System, among which are the autonomous communities of La Rioja, the Basque Country and Navarre, means to label when the scale of the map allows it the two alternative names with their extended form “Sierra de Toloño or de Cantabria”, or the indistinct use of any of these two toponyms when considered by the Administration producing the cartography.
In this way, the historical tradition is reconciled with the current use that different sectors of the population make of one or another name, as demonstrated by the contributions presented by numerous institutions representative of a large part of the inhabitants of the area. Thus, this resolution follows the recommendations of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) on respecting the local use of toponymy and reconciling administrative and academic considerations with the preferences of the population.