1916 Spanish general election

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1916 Spanish general election
Flag of Spain (1785-1873, 1875-1931).svg
  1914 9 April 1916 (Congress) [a]
23 April 1916 (Senate)
1918  

All 409 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate
205 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Alvaro de Figueroa, Count of Romanones 1919 (cropped).jpg Eduardo Dato 1911 (cropped).jpg Antonio Maura 1917 (cropped).jpg
Leader Count of Romanones Eduardo Dato Antonio Maura
Party LiberalDemocratic Conservative Maurist
Leader since191219131913
Leader's seat Guadalajara Vitoria Palma
Last election117 (C) ·53 (S) [b] 191 (C) ·79 (S)25 (C) ·14 (S)
Seats won228 (C) ·112 (S)89 (C) ·35 (S)18 (C) ·6 (S)
Seat change Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 111 (C) · Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 59 (S) Red Arrow Down.svg 102 (C) · Red Arrow Down.svg 44 (S) Red Arrow Down.svg 7 (C) · Red Arrow Down.svg 8 (S)

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Enric Prat de la Riba 1911 (cropped).jpg Melquiades Alvarez (cropped).jpg Roberto Castrovido 1911 (cropped).jpg
Leader Enric Prat de la Riba Melquíades Álvarez Roberto Castrovido
Party Regionalist Reformist Republican–Socialist
Leader since190219121914
Leader's seatDid not run Castropol Madrid
Last election13 (C) ·6 (S)12 (C) ·3 (S)13 (C) ·2 (S) [c]
Seats won13 (C) ·7 (S)14 (C) ·2 (S)13 (C) ·1 (S)
Seat change Arrow Blue Right 001.svg 0 (C) · Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 1 (S) Green Arrow Up Darker.svg 2 (C) · Red Arrow Down.svg 1 (S) Arrow Blue Right 001.svg 0 (C) · Red Arrow Down.svg 1 (S)

Prime Minister before election

Count of Romanones
Liberal

Prime Minister after election

Count of Romanones
Liberal

A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 9 April (for the Congress of Deputies) [a] and on Sunday, 23 April 1916 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 16th Restoration Cortes. All 409 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.

Contents

The turno system—under which Conservatives and Liberals had alternated in power by determining in advance the outcome of elections through caciquism and electoral fraud—had entered a phase of decline derived from the internal crises of the two dynastic parties, which had turned into a set of factions that made political rotation difficult. The Conservatives had fragmented between those supporting the continuity of the turno (the idóneos or "suitable ones", led by Prime Minister Eduardo Dato) and those following the political doctrine of Antonio Maura (the Maurist faction or mauristas), who had grown disaffected with it. In the Liberal camp, divisions were a result of personal rivalries between the Count of Romanones and the Marquis of Alhucemas.

Dato and Romanones initially agreed to support each other in maintaining the turno and fighting their respective dissidents, helped by a lessening of partisanship in 1914 due to the outbreak of World War I. The conflict saw an expansion of industrial activity as demand for Spanish goods rose among the warring powers—a result of the Dato government proclaiming the country's neutrality in the war—but the inflow of capital caused inflation and a drop in imports, exacerbating poverty in some areas of the country as the shortage of basic commodities led to food riots. Dato's attempt to avoid parliament (which was only in session for seven out of his 25-month tenure) alienated the Maurists, whereas his refusal to establish a free-trade zone in the port of Barcelona enraged Catalan regionalists. With Romanones and Alhucemas agreeing to an united front against the Conservative cabinet in the summer of 1915, Dato found himself isolated, resigning in December that year after being unable to pass a proposed military reform. [2]

Re-appointed as prime minister by King Alfonso XIII, Romanones formed a cabinet with representation from all liberal factions, subsequently calling a general election that saw his government securing an overall majority. This would the last election until 1923 in which a single party or alliance would secure a majority of parliamentary support.

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]

Overview

Electoral system

The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system. [7] 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). [8] [9] Voting for each chamber of the Cortes was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage and censitary suffrage, respectively:

Electors were required to not being in active military service; nor 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. [10]

The Congress of Deputies was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants, distributed among the provinces of Spain. [14] 98 seats were distributed among 28 multi-member constituencies and elected using a partial block voting system: in constituencies electing ten seats or more, electors could vote for no more than four candidates less than the number of seats to be allocated; in those with more than eight seats and up to ten, for no more than three less; 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. [15] The remaining seats—311 for the 1916 election—were allocated to single-member districts and elected using plurality voting. [16] Additionally, in those districts where the number of candidates was equal or less than the number of seats up for election, candidates were to be automatically elected. [17]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats: [16] [18]

SeatsConstituencies
8 Madrid
7 Barcelona
5 Palma, Seville
4 Cartagena
3 Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Burgos, Cádiz, Córdoba, Gran Canaria, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, La Coruña, Lugo, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Pamplona, Santander, Tarragona, Tenerife, Valencia, Valladolid, Zaragoza

For the Senate, 180 seats were elected using an indirect, write-in, two-round majority voting system. [19] [20] 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. [21] 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. [22] [23] 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. [24]

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. [25]

The law provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated in both the Congress and Senate throughout the legislature's term. [26] [27]

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, the judiciary, the prosecution ministry 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. [28] [29] A number of other positions were exempt from ineligibility, provided that no more than 40 deputies benefitted from these: [30] [31]

Additionally, candidates intending to run were required to either have previously served as deputies, elected in a general or by-election; to secure the endorsement of two current or former senators or deputies from the same provinces, or from three current or former provincial deputies representing a territory that, in whole or in part, was included in the constituencies for which they sought election; or to secure the endorsement of at least one twentieth of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election. [32]

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: [33] [34]

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. [35]

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. [36] The previous Congress and Senate elections were held on 8 March and 22 March 1914, which meant that the legislature's terms would have expired on 8 March and 22 March 1919, respectively. The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election. [37] [38] 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 16 March 1916, with the dissolution decree setting the election dates for 9 April (for the Congress) and 23 April 1916 (for the Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 10 May. [39]

Results

Congress of Deputies

Summary of the 9 April 1916 Congress of Deputies election results
SpainCongressDiagram1916.svg
Parties and alliancesPopular voteSeats
Votes%A.29Cont.Total
Liberal PartyLiberal Democrats (PL–LD)90138228
Conservative Party (PC)375289
Maurist Party (PM)51318
Reformist Party (PRef)41014
Republican–Socialist Conjunction (CRS)11213
Regionalist League (LR)11213
Traditionalist Communion (Jaimist) (CT)279
Republican Coalition (PRRUFNR)257
Ciervist Conservatives (CC)167
Integrist Party (PI)022
Autonomist Republican Bloc (BRA)011
Burgalese Regionalist Party (PRB)011
Independents (INDEP)257
Total145264409
Votes cast / turnout
Abstentions
Registered voters
Sources [a] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46]
Seats
PLLD
55.75%
PC
21.76%
PM
4.40%
PRef
3.42%
CRS
3.18%
LR
3.18%
CT
2.20%
PRR–UFNR
1.71%
CC
1.71%
PI
0.49%
BRA
0.24%
PRB
0.24%
INDEP
1.71%

Senate

Summary of the 23 April 1916 Senate of Spain election results
SpainSenateDiagram1916.svg
Parties and alliancesSeats
Liberal PartyLiberal Democrats (PL–LD)112
Conservative Party (PC)35
Regionalist League (LR)7
Maurist Party (PM)6
Reformist Party (PRef)2
Ciervist Conservatives (CC)2
Republican–Socialist Conjunction (CRS)1
Traditionalist Communion (Jaimist) (CT)1
Integrist Party (PI)1
Independents (INDEP)4
Archbishops (ARCH)9
Total elective seats180
Sources [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] [54] [55]
Seats
PLLD
62.22%
PC
19.44%
LR
3.89%
PM
3.33%
PRef
1.11%
CC
1.11%
CRS
0.56%
CT
0.56%
PI
0.56%
INDEP
2.22%
ARCH
5.00%

Distribution by group

Summary of political group distribution in the 16th Restoration Cortes (1916–1918)
GroupParties and alliancesCSTotal
PLLD Liberal PartyLiberal Democrats (PL–LD)225112340
Monarchist Coalition (MON)30
PC Conservative Party (PC)8835125
Monarchist Coalition (MON)20
PM Maurist Party (PM)17623
LR Regionalist League (LR)13720
PRef Reformist Party (PRef)14216
CRS Republican Party (PRep)10114
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)10
Autonomist Republican Union Party (PURA)10
Independent Republicans (R.IND)10
CT Traditionalist Communion (Jaimist) (CT)9110
CC Ciervist Conservatives (CC)729
PRR–
UFNR
Radical Republican Party (PRR)507
Republican Nationalist Federal Union (UFNR)20
PI Integrist Party (PI)213
BRA Autonomist Republican Bloc (BRA)101
PRB Burgalese Regionalist Party (PRB)101
INDEP Independents (INDEP)3211
Basque Dynastics (Urquijist) (DV)12
Independent Catholics (CAT)20
Independent Liberals (L.IND)10
ARCH Archbishops (ARCH)099
Total409180589

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Candidates elected automatically under Article 29 of the Electoral Law were proclaimed on 2 April 1916. [1]
  2. Results for PL (84 deputies and 41 senators) and PLD (33 deputies and 12 senators) in the 1914 election.
  3. Results for CRS (12 deputies and 2 senators) and PURA (1 deputy and 0 senators) in the 1910 election.

References

  1. "Abril de 1916. Día 2. Las elecciones de Diputados a Cortes. El artículo 29". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Año Político. 1 January 1917. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  2. Fayanás Escuer, Edmundo (31 January 2025). "La política española de los años 1913 al año 1917". Nueva Tribuna (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  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. Constitution (1876) , arts. 18–19 & 41.
  8. Constitution (1876) , arts. 38, 42 & 45.
  9. "El Senado en la historia constitucional española". Senate of Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  10. 1 2 Law of 8 August (1907) , arts. 1–3.
  11. García Muñoz 2002, pp. 107–108.
  12. Carreras de Odriozola & Tafunell Sambola 2005, p. 1077.
  13. Law of 8 February (1877) , arts. 1–3, 12–13 & 25.
  14. Constitution (1876) , arts. 27–28.
  15. Law of 8 August (1907) , art. 21.
  16. 1 2 Law of 8 August (1907) , add. art. 3, applying Law of 26 June (1890) , trans. prov. 1, applying Law of 28 December (1878) , art. 2, applying Law of 1 January (1871) , art. 1.
  17. Law of 8 August (1907) , art. 29.
  18. Rules modifying constituency boundaries:
  19. Constitution (1876) , art. 20.
  20. Law of 8 February (1877) , arts. 21–22 & 53.
  21. Law of 8 February (1877) , arts. 1 & 30–31.
  22. Law of 8 February (1877) , art. 2.
  23. "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.
  24. Law of 8 February (1877) , art. 1.
  25. Constitution (1876) , arts. 20–21.
  26. Law of 8 February (1877) , arts. 56–59.
  27. Law of 8 August (1907) , arts. 55–58.
  28. Constitution (1876) , arts. 29 & 31.
  29. Law of 8 August (1907) , arts. 4–7.
  30. Law of 7 March (1880) , arts. 1–4.
  31. Law of 31 July (1887).
  32. Law of 8 August (1907) , art. 24.
  33. Constitution (1876) , arts. 22 & 26.
  34. Law of 8 February (1877) , art. 4.
  35. Law of 8 February (1877) , arts. 5–9.
  36. Constitution (1876) , arts. 24 & 30.
  37. Constitution (1876) , art. 32.
  38. Law of 8 February (1877) , art. 11.
  39. Real decreto declarando disuelto el Congreso de los Diputados y la parte electiva del Senado; que las elecciones de Diputados se verifiquen el 9 de Abril próximo y las de Senadores el 23 de igual mes, y que las Cortes se reúnan en Madrid el 10 de Mayo siguiente (PDF) (Royal Decree). Madrid Gazette (in Spanish). King of Spain. 16 March 1916. Retrieved 18 August 2025.
  40. "Los futuros diputados a Cortes". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Parlamentario. 23 March 1916. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  41. "Las elecciones del domingo". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Heraldo de Madrid. 11 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  42. "Después de las elecciones". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Correspondencia Militar. 11 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  43. "El futuro Congreso". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Mañana. 12 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  44. "Las elecciones". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Imparcial. 12 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  45. "El nuevo Congreso". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Heraldo Militar. 12 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  46. "Abril de 1916. Día 9. Elecciones generales de Diputados a Cortes". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Año Político. 1 January 1917. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  47. "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Liberal. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  48. "Los senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Mañana. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  49. "Nuevos senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Heraldo Militar. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  50. "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Imparcial. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  51. "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Correspondencia Militar. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  52. "Elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Globo. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  53. "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Correspondencia de España. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  54. "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Siglo Futuro. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  55. "Abril de 1916. Día 23. La elección de Senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Año Político. 1 January 1917. Retrieved 6 April 2023.

Bibliography