1907 Spanish general election

Last updated

1907 Spanish general election
Flag of Spain (1785-1873, 1875-1931).svg
  1905 21 April 1907 (Congress)
5 May 1907 (Senate) [a]
1910  

All 404 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate
203 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Antonio Maura 1910 (cropped).jpg Segismundo Moret b.1909 (cropped).jpg Enric Prat de la Riba 1911 (cropped).jpg
Leader Antonio Maura Segismundo Moret Enric Prat de la Riba
Party Conservative Liberal Solidarity
Leader since11 November 190319061906
Leader's seat Palma Albuñol Did not run
Last election128 (C) ·53 (S) [b] 226 (C) ·108 (S)18 (C) ·3 (S) [c]
Seats won256 (C) ·113 (S)72 (C) ·25 (S)38 (C) ·14 (S)
Seat change Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 128 (C) · Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 60 (S) Red Arrow Down.svg 154 (C) · Red Arrow Down.svg 83 (S) Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 20 (C) · Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 11 (S)

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Nicolas Salmeron 1908 (cropped).jpg Matias Barrio y Mier 1900 (cropped).jpg Jose Canalejas b (cropped).jpg
Leader Nicolás Salmerón Matías Barrio y Mier José Canalejas
Party Republican Carlist Democratic
Leader since190318991902
Leader's seat Barcelona Cervera de Pisuerga Alcoy
Last election19 (C) ·1 (S) [d] 4 (C) ·2 (S)Did not contest
Seats won15 (C) ·1 (S)8 (C) ·3 (S)7 (C) ·6 (S)
Seat change Red Arrow Down.svg 4 (C) · Arrow Blue Right 001.svg 0 (S) Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 4 (C) · Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 1 (S) Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 7 (C) · Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 6 (S)

Prime Minister before election

Antonio Maura
Conservative

Prime Minister after election

Antonio Maura
Conservative

A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 21 April (for the Congress of Deputies) and on Sunday, 5 May 1907 (for the Senate), [a] to elect the members of the 13th Restoration Cortes. All 404 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.

Contents

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 caciques ). 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.

Eugenio Montero Ríos had resigned as prime minister in the wake of the ¡Cu-Cut! incident in November 1905. [2] The Liberal Party then entered a period of internal turmoil during which various leaders—Segismundo Moret and José López Domínguez—succeeded themselves in office. The strong rivalry between Moret and José Canalejas saw the "slip paper crisis" (crisis del papelito)—which saw Moret returning to the premiership for a few days—and a transitional government being formed by the Marquis of Vega de Armijo, until the Conservartive Party under Antonio Maura was tasked with the formation of a new government and the calling of a general election by King Alfonso XIII.

The election resulted in a large majority for Maura—who used the system's own mechanisms to secure a disproportionate amount of seats at the expense of the Liberals, breaching a tacit pact between the elites of the two parties—and a huge success for the Catalan Solidarity coalition, formed as a consequence of the political fallout in Catalonia resulting from the ¡Cu-Cut! incident and the approval of the 1906 Law of Jurisdictions.

Background

Following the Bourbon Restoration in 1874, the Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a semi-constitutional monarchy , awarding the monarch —under the royal prerogative —the right of legislative initiative together with the bicameral Cortes ; the capacity to veto laws passed by the legislative body; the power to appoint government members (including the prime minister ); the ability to grant or deny parliamentary dissolution , the adjournment of legislative sessions and the signature of royal decrees ; as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the armed forces . [3] [4] The monarch would play a key role in the turno system by appointing and dismissing governments, which would then organize elections to provide themselves with a parliamentary majority. This informal system allowed the two major " dynastic " political parties at the time, the Conservatives and the Liberals —characterized as oligarchic , elite parties with loose structures dominated by internal factions, each led by powerful individuals—to alternate in power by means of electoral fraud ( pucherazo ). This was achieved by assigning candidates to districts before the elections were held ( encasillado ), then arrange their victory through the links between the Ministry of Governance and the territorial clientelistic networks of provincial governors and local bosses (the caciques ), excluding minor parties from the power sharing. [5] [6]

The Restoration system had entered a phase of decline following the national trauma from the Spanish–American War (the "1898 disaster") and the absence of politically authoritative figureheads since the deaths of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (1897) and Práxedes Mateo Sagasta (1903), weakening the internal unity of both dynastic parties and strengthening the position of faction leaders and local caciques as power brokers. [7] [8] 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. [9] [10] [11]

Overview

Electoral system

The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system. [12] 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 (Congress) and trial (Senate). [13] [14] Voting for each chamber of the Cortes was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage and censitary suffrage, respectively:

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. [15]

The Congress of Deputies was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants, distributed among the provinces of Spain. [19] 98 seats were distributed among 28 multi-member constituencies and elected 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. [20] The remaining seats—306 for the 1907 election—were allocated to single-member districts and elected using plurality voting. [21] Additionally, literary 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. [22]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats: [21] [23]

SeatsConstituencies
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

For the Senate, 180 seats were elected using an indirect, write-in, two-round majority voting system. [24] [25] Voters in the economic societies, the local councils and major taxpayers elected delegates—equivalent in number to one per each 50 members (in each economic society) or to one-sixth of the councillors (in each local council), with an initial minimum of one—who, together with other voting-able electors, would in turn vote for senators. [26] 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. [27] [28] 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 Royal Spanish; History; Fine Arts of San Fernando; Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences; Moral and Political Sciences and Medicine); the universities of Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Oviedo, Salamanca, Santiago, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; and the economic societies of Friends of the Country from Madrid, Barcelona, León, Seville and Valencia. [29]

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 (from their own real estate or from rights that enjoy the same legal consideration); 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, the Supreme Council of War and Navy, after two years of service—as well as senators for life appointed directly by the monarch. [30]

The law provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated in both the Congress and Senate throughout the legislature's term. [31] [32]

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. [33] [34] A number of other positions were exempt from ineligibility, provided that no more than 40 deputies benefitted from these: [35] [36]

For the Senate, eligibility was limited to Spanish citizens over 35 years of age and not subject to criminal prosecution, disfranchisement nor asset seizure, provided that they were entitled to be appointed as senators in their own right or belonged or had belonged to one of the following categories: [37] [38]

Other causes of ineligibility for the Senate were imposed on territorial-level officers in government bodies and institutions—during their tenure of office and up to three months after their dismissal—in constituencies within the whole or part of their respective area of jurisdiction; contractors of public works or services; tax collectors and their guarantors; debtors of the State; deputies; local councillors (except those in Madrid); and provincial deputies for their respective provinces. [39]

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. [40] The previous Congress and Senate elections were held on 10 September and 24 September 1905, which meant that the legislature's terms would have expired on 10 September and 24 September 1910, respectively. The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election. [41] [42] 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 (for the Senate in 1877) and no half-Senate elections taking place under the 1876 Constitution.

The Cortes were officially dissolved on 30 March 1907, with the dissolution decree setting the election dates for 21 April (for the Congress) and 5 May 1907 (for the Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 13 May. [43]

Results

Congress of Deputies

Summary of the 21 April 1907 Congress of Deputies election results
SpainCongressDiagram1907.svg
Parties and alliancesPopular voteSeats
Votes%
Conservative Party (PC)256
Liberal Party (PL)72
Catalan Solidarity (SC)38
Republican Union (UR)15
Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT)8
Monarchist Democratic Party (PDM)7
Integrist Party (PI)3
Anti-Solidarity Republicans (RAS)2
Independents (INDEP)3
Total404
Votes cast / turnout
Abstentions
Registered voters
Sources [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] [54] [55]
Seats
PC
63.37%
PL
17.82%
SC
9.41%
UR
3.71%
CT
1.98%
PDM
1.73%
PI
0.74%
RAS
0.50%
INDEP
0.74%

Senate

Summary of the 5 May 1907 Senate of Spain election results
SpainSenateDiagram1907.svg
Parties and alliancesSeats
Conservative Party (PC)113
Liberal Party (PL)25
Catalan Solidarity (SC)14
Monarchist Democratic Party (PDM)6
Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT)3
Integrist Party (PI)3
Republican Union (UR)1
Anti-Solidarity Republicans (RAS)1
Independents (INDEP)5
Archbishops (ARCH)9
Total elective seats180
Sources [a] [56] [57] [58] [59] [60] [61] [62] [63]
Seats
PC
62.78%
PL
13.88%
SC
7.78%
PDM
3.33%
CT
1.67%
PI
1.67%
UR
0.56%
RAS
0.56%
INDEP
2.78%
ARCH
5.00%

Distribution by group

Summary of political group distribution in the 13th Restoration Cortes (1907–1910)
GroupParties and alliancesCSTotal
PC Conservative Party (PC)254110369
Basque Dynastics (Urquijist) (DV)12
Anti-Liberal Catholic Alliance (ACA)11
PL Liberal Party (PL)722597
SC Regionalist League (LR)13552
Federal Republican Party (PRF)93
Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT)63
Republican Union (UR)52
Republican Nationalist Centre (CNR)40
Independents (INDEP)10
Integrist Party (PI)01
UR Republican Union (UR)15116
PDM Monarchist Democratic Party (PDM)7613
CT Anti-Liberal Catholic Alliance (ACA)5111
Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT)32
PI Integrist Party (PI)216
Anti-Liberal Catholic Alliance (ACA)11
Catholic League (LC)01
RAS Republican Union (UR)213
INDEP Independents (INDEP)248
Independent Catholics (CAT)11
ARCH Archbishops (ARCH)099
Total404180584

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 The election in the province of Lugo was postponed to 4 August 1907. [1]
  2. Results for PC (105 deputies and 48 senators), V (16 deputies and 4 senators) and PLR (7 deputies and 1 senator) in the 1905 election.
  3. Results in Catalonia for LR (7 deputies and 2 senators), UR (6 deputies and 0 senators) and PRF (5 deputies and 1 senator) in the 1905 election.
  4. Results in the 1905 election, not including Catalonia.

References

  1. "Acta electoral (1907-08-04). Copia certificada". Senate of Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  2. Soldevilla 1906, pp. 460–465 & 490–498.
  3. Calero 1987, p. 275.
  4. Constitution (1876), arts. 18, 22, 32, 41, 44 & 51–54.
  5. Martorell Linares 1997, pp. 139–143.
  6. Martínez Relanzón 2017, pp. 147–148.
  7. Fernández Almagro 1943, p. 415.
  8. Martorell Linares 1997, p. 144.
  9. Martorell Linares 1997, pp. 144–145.
  10. Montagut, Eduardo (24 March 2016). "El republicanismo durante la Restauración borbónica". Eduardo Montagut (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 August 2025.
  11. Serrano Lahoz 2020, p. 32.
  12. Constitution (1876) , arts. 18–19 & 41.
  13. Constitution (1876) , arts. 38, 42 & 45.
  14. "El Senado en la historia constitucional española". Senate of Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  15. 1 2 Law of 26 June (1890) , arts. 1–2.
  16. García Muñoz 2002, pp. 106–107.
  17. Carreras de Odriozola & Tafunell Sambola 2005, p. 1077.
  18. Law of 8 February (1877) , arts. 1–3, 12–13 & 25.
  19. Constitution (1876) , arts. 27–28.
  20. Law of 26 June (1890) , art. 22.
  21. 1 2 Law of 26 June (1890) , trans. prov. 1, applying Law of 28 December (1878) , art. 2, applying Law of 1 January (1871) , art. 1.
  22. Law of 26 June (1890) , art. 24.
  23. Rules modifying constituency boundaries:
  24. Constitution (1876) , art. 20.
  25. Law of 8 February (1877) , arts. 21–22 & 53.
  26. Law of 8 February (1877) , arts. 1 & 30–31.
  27. Law of 8 February (1877) , art. 2.
  28. "Real decreto disponiendo el número de Senadores que han de elegir las provincias que se citan" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish) (76). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 1021. 16 March 1899.
  29. Law of 8 February (1877) , art. 1.
  30. Constitution (1876) , arts. 20–21.
  31. Law of 8 February (1877) , arts. 56–59.
  32. Law of 26 June (1890) , arts. 73–76.
  33. Constitution (1876) , arts. 29 & 31.
  34. Law of 26 June (1890) , arts. 3–5.
  35. Law of 7 March (1880) , arts. 1–4.
  36. Law of 31 July (1887).
  37. Constitution (1876) , arts. 22 & 26.
  38. Law of 8 February (1877) , art. 4.
  39. Law of 8 February (1877) , arts. 5–9.
  40. Constitution (1876) , arts. 24 & 30.
  41. Constitution (1876) , art. 32.
  42. Law of 8 February (1877) , art. 11.
  43. Real decreto declarando disuelto el Congreso de los Diputados y la parte electiva del Senado, y disponiendo que las Cortes se reúnan en Madrid el día 13 de Mayo próximo (PDF) (Royal Decree). Madrid Gazette (in Spanish). King of Spain. 30 March 1907. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  44. Armengol i Segú & Varela Ortega 2001, pp. 655–776.
  45. "La lucha electoral. Los candidatos". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Época. 19 April 1907. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  46. "La lucha electoral". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Globo. 20 April 1907. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  47. "Candidatos triunfantes". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Imparcial. 22 April 1907. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  48. "Los nuevos diputados". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Época. 22 April 1907. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  49. "Las elecciones". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Día. 23 April 1907. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  50. "Los nuevos diputados". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Globo. 23 April 1907. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  51. "Lista de candidatos triunfantes, por clasificación de partidos". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Época. 23 April 1907. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  52. "Los diputados electos". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Imparcial. 24 April 1907. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  53. "El futuro Congreso". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Día. 25 April 1907. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  54. "Elecciones de Diputados". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Correspondencia de España. 25 April 1907. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  55. "Abril de 1907. Día 21. Elecciones de Diputados a Cortes". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Año Político. 1 January 1908. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  56. "Los nuevos senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Heraldo de Madrid. 5 May 1907. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  57. "Elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Imparcial. 6 May 1907. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  58. "Elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Correo Español. 6 May 1907. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  59. "Los electos". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El País. 6 May 1907. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  60. "Elecciones de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Correspondencia de Madrid. 6 May 1907. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  61. "Elecciones de senadores. Los elegidos". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Siglo Futuro. 6 May 1907. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  62. "Los nuevos senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Globo. 7 May 1907. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  63. "Mayo de 1907. Día 5. Elección de Senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Año Político. 1 January 1908. Retrieved 26 November 2022.

Bibliography