1905 Spanish general election
A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 10 September and on Sunday, 24 September 1905, to elect the members of the 12th Cortes Generales#Restoration under the Spanish Constitution of 1876, during the Restoration period. All 404 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.
The informal turno system had allowed the country's two main parties—the Conservatives and the Liberals—to alternate in power by determining in advance the outcome of elections through electoral fraud, often facilitated by the territorial clientelistic networks of local bosses. The absence of politically authoritative figureheads since the deaths of Cánovas and Sagasta, together with the national trauma from the Spanish–American War, weakened the internal unity of both parties and allowed faction leaders and local caciques to strengthen their positions as power brokers. Sagasta's death plunged the Liberal Party into turmoil, with an inconclusive leadership contest between Eugenio Montero Ríos and Segismundo Moret seeing the former temporarily splitting into the Liberal Democratic Party.
Francisco Silvela's second tenure as prime minister of Spain was short-lived, as he resigned in July 1903 over disagreements between the Crown and Antonio Maura over the latter's management of election preparations as Governance minister—which had led to a strong performance by anti-monarchist forces in urban districts in the 1903 election—and amid a growing rivalry with Finance minister Raimundo Fernández-Villaverde, a defender of orthodox economics who opposed Maura's deficit spending. A five-month long cabinet under Villaverde fell after most of the Conservatives coalesced around Maura as new party leader, but a government attempt by the latter collapsed in December 1904, following King Alfonso XIII's interference in the appointment of a new Chief of the Central Staff of the Army. The inability of any other Conservative leader to command the party's majority in parliament thwarted two government attempts by Marcelo Azcárraga and Villaverde, leading to a new Liberal "turn" under Montero Ríos.
Background
The Restoration system had entered a phase of decline following the national trauma from the Spanish–American War and the absence of politically authoritative figureheads since the deaths of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo and Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, weakening the internal unity of both dynastic parties and strengthening the position of faction leaders and local caciques as power brokers. Concurrently, the anti-monarchist opposition became increasingly competitive in urban and some rural districts, partly due to the introduction of universal suffrage since 1890, partly due to the progressive weakening of the pro-government electoral apparatus.Francisco Silvela's return to power in December 1902 had seen the incorporation of the remaining Gamacists under Antonio Maura—a strong adherent to Silvela's regenerationist view of a revolution from power"—into the Conservative fold, with Maura himself being appointed as new governance minister. The rivalry within Silvela's cabinet between Maura and Raimundo Fernández-Villaverde led to the latter's resignation as finance minister in March 1903.
Villaverde and Maura's financial clashes over a cabinet-sponsored Navy Law, coupled with disagreements between the Crown and Maura over election preparation procedures—as a result of the strong performance of anti-monarchist candidates in the cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia in the 1903 general election—led to Silvela's resignation on 20 July 1903, with young King Alfonso XIII appointing Villaverde as new prime minister. This situation would last for only five months, as most of the Conservatives coalesced around Maura after a vigorous parliamentary speech in defense of Conservative ideals on 11 November, prompting the downfall of Villaverde's government when it proved unable to get its 1904 budget bill through parliament in December.
A new government under Antonio Maura saw attempts to implement a regenerationist agenda, but his policy of increasing public spending caused a rift with the Villaverdists within the Conservative Party. During this period, the government had to deal with the "Nozaleda affair": its attempt to propose Bernardino Nozaleda—former archbishop of Manila, questioned for his role during the loss of the Philippines—as [Archdiocese of Province of Valencia|Valencia in Spain|archbishop of Valencia], earning Maura criticism from the opposition. Maura resigned on 16 December 1904, following the King's refusal to sign the appointment of General Francisco Loño to the newly created post of [Chief of Staff of the Spanish Army|Army (Spain)|Chief of the Central Staff of the Army]—with Alfonso XIII preferring General Camilo García de Polavieja instead—sparking a political crisis as no other Conservative leader could command the party's parliamentary support: an interim cabinet by Marcelo Azcárraga fell within one month over disagreements on the date of re-opening of the Cortes, and a second government under Villaverde was left in a clear minority, surviving only for as long as the parliament remained closed. Once the Cortes were re-opened, the government suffered a string of parliamentary defeats until it was brought down in a vote of confidence on 20 June 1905. Both Silvela and Villaverde would die within a few weeks of each other in 1905, leaving Maura as the sole undisputed leader of the Conservative Party.
Sagasta's death had left the Liberal Party in need of a new leader and political direction. In a parliamentary assembly held on 15 November 1903, Eugenio Montero Ríos narrowly outvoted Segismundo Moret among party legislators, but fell short of the two-thirds majority required for election. The party split into two factions, with Montero Ríos being joined by José López Domínguez and José Canalejas—who had left both the Liberal government and party the previous year over his disagreement with Moret and Sagasta's deal with the Holy See on the issue of religious orders—into the new Liberal Democratic Party. In June 1905, amid the crisis of the Conservative government, Montero Ríos and Moret agreed on a united front to pose a viable political alternative, which bore fruit upon the former's appointment as prime minister on 23 June.
Overview
Under the 1876 Constitution, the Spanish Cortes Generales were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system. Both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate had legislative, control and budgetary functions, sharing equal powers except for laws on contributions or public credit, the first reading of which corresponded to Congress, and impeachment processes against government ministers, in which each chamber had separate powers of indictment and trial.Electoral system
Voting for the Congress of Deputies was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage, which comprised all national males over 25 years of age, having at least a two-year residency in a municipality and in full enjoyment of their civil rights. Additionally, voters were required to not being sentenced—by a final court ruling—to perpetual disqualification from political rights or public offices, to afflictive penalties not legally rehabilitated at least two years in advance, nor to other criminal penalties that remained unserved at the time of the election; neither being legally incapacitated, bankrupt, insolvent, debtors of public funds, nor homeless.The Congress of Deputies was entitled to one seat per each 50,000 inhabitants. 98 members were elected in 28 multi-member constituencies using a partial block voting system: in constituencies electing eight seats or more, electors could vote for no more than three candidates less than the number of seats to be allocated; in those with more than four seats and up to eight, for no more than two less; and in those with more than one seat and up to four, for no more than one less. The remaining 306 seats were elected in single-member districts using plurality voting and distributed among the provinces of Spain in proportion to their populations. Additionally, literary [List of List of universities in Spain|universities in Spain|universities], economic societies of Friends of the Country and officially organized chambers of commerce, industry and agriculture were entitled to one seat per each 5,000 registered voters that they comprised.
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:
| Seats | Constituencies |
| 8 | Madrid |
| 7 | Barcelona |
| 5 | Palma, Seville |
| 4 | Cartagena |
| 3 | Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Burgos, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, La Coruña, Las Palmas, Lugo, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Pamplona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santander, Tarragona, Valencia, Valladolid, Zaragoza |
Voting for the elective part of the Senate was on the basis of censitary suffrage, which comprised archbishops and bishops ; full academics ; rectors, full professors, enrolled doctors, directors of secondary education institutes and heads of special schools in their respective territories ; members with at least a three-year-old membership ; major taxpayers and Spanish citizens of age, being householders residing in Spain and in full enjoyment of their political and civil rights ; and provincial deputies.
180 seats in the Senate were elected using an indirect, write-in, two-round majority voting system. Voters in the economic societies, the local councils and major taxpayers elected delegates—equivalent in number to one per each 50 members or to one-sixth of the councillors, with an initial minimum of one—who, together with other voting-able electors, would in turn vote for senators. The provinces of Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia were allocated four seats each, whereas each of the remaining provinces was allocated three seats, for a total of 150. The remaining 30 were allocated to special districts comprising a number of institutions, electing one seat each: the archdioceses of Burgos, Granada, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Tarragona, Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; the six oldest royal academies ; the universities of Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Oviedo, Salamanca, Santiago, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; and the economic societies of Madrid, Barcelona, León, Seville and Valencia.
An additional 180 seats comprised senators in their own right—the monarch's offspring and the heir apparent once coming of age; grandees of Spain with an annual income of at least Pts 60,000 ; captain generals of the Army and admirals of the Navy; the Patriarch of the Indies and archbishops; and the presidents of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors and the Supreme Council of War and Navy, after two years of service—as well as senators for life appointed directly by the monarch.
The law provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated in both the Congress and Senate throughout the legislative term.
Eligibility
For the Congress, Spanish citizens of age, of secular status, in full enjoyment of their civil rights and with the legal capacity to vote could run for election, provided that they were not contractors of public works or services, within the territorial scope of their contracts; nor holders of government-appointed offices and presidents or members of provincial deputations—during their tenure of office and up to one year after their dismissal—in constituencies within the whole or part of their respective area of jurisdiction, except for government ministers and civil servants in the Central Administration. A number of other positions were exempt from ineligibility, provided that no more than 40 deputies benefitted from these:- Civil, military and judicial positions with a permanent residence in Madrid and a yearly public salary of at least Pts 12,500;
- The holders of a number of positions: the president, prosecutors and chamber presidents of the territorial court of Madrid; the rector and full professors of the Central University of Madrid; inspectors of engineers; and general officers of the Army and Navy based in Madrid.
- Those who had ever served as senators before the promulgation of the 1876 Constitution; and deputies having served in at least three different congresses or eight terms;
- The holders of a number of positions: presidents of the Senate and the Congress; government ministers; bishops; grandees of Spain not eligible as senators in their own right; and presidents and directors of the royal academies;
- Provided an annual income of at least Pts 7,500 from either their own property, salaries from jobs that cannot be lost except for legally proven cause, or from retirement, withdrawal or termination: full academics of the aforementioned corporations on the first half of the seniority scale in their corps; first-class inspectors-general of the corps of civil, mining and forest engineers; and full professors with at least four years of seniority in their category and practice;
- Provided two prior years of service: Army's lieutenant generals and Navy's vice admirals; and other members and prosecutors of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors, the Supreme Council of War and Navy, and the dean of the Court of Military Orders;
- Ambassadors after two years of service and plenipotentiaries after four;
- Those with an annual income of Pts 20,000 or were taxpayers with a minimum quota of Pts 4,000 in direct contributions at least two years in advance, provided that they either belonged to the Spanish nobility, had been previously deputies, provincial deputies or mayors in provincial capitals or towns over 20,000 inhabitants.
Election date
The term of each chamber of the Cortes—the Congress and one-half of the elective part of the Senate—expired five years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The previous elections were held on 26 April 1903 for the Congress and on 10 May 1903 for the Senate, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 26 April and 10 May 1908, respectively.The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election. There was no constitutional requirement for concurrent elections to the Congress and the Senate, nor for the elective part of the Senate to be renewed in its entirety except in the case that a full dissolution was agreed by the monarch. Still, there was only one case of a separate election and no half-Senate elections taking place under the 1876 Constitution.
The Cortes were officially dissolved on 17 August 1905, with the dissolution decree setting election day for 10 September and 24 September 1905 and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 11 October.