The cantabrian region (northern Spain), one of the wettest areas of Iberian Peninsula, suffers also one of the highest frequencies of forest fires of Europe, although its natural vegetation, dominated by deciduous species, is not pyrophitic. Traditionally, the atmospheric conditions associated to a warm föhn wind has been invoked as the main cause of such "natural hazard".

An analysis of the atmospheric conditions through a synoptic typing catalogue confirms a good correspondence between specific synoptic types and the number of fires and burned surfaces at daily scale (but not exclusively during föhn events). However, there is a weak correspondence between the period of the year with the highest frequencies of fires and the occurrence of those windstorms at monthly scale, thus suggesting the influence of other factors on the genesis of forest fires in our region.

The lack of agreement is related to the close influence of traditional practices embebbed in the rural economy, involving the use of fire in order to preserve pasture surfaces. For such reason, we suggest to qualify and to analyze those events as "man-induced hazards".