1916 Spanish general election

1916 Spanish general election

← 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 party Second party Third party
 
Leader Count of Romanones Eduardo Dato Antonio Maura
Party LiberalDemocratic Conservative Maurist
Leader since 1912 1913 1913
Leader's seat Guadalajara Vitoria Palma
Last election 117 (C· 53 (S)[b] 191 (C· 79 (S) 25 (C· 14 (S)
Seats won 228 (C· 112 (S) 89 (C· 35 (S) 18 (C· 6 (S)
Seat change Green arrow up111 (C· Green arrow up59 (S) Red arrow down102 (C· Red arrow down44 (S) Red arrow down7 (C· Red arrow down8 (S)

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Enric Prat de la Riba Melquíades Álvarez Roberto Castrovido
Party Regionalist Reformist Republican–Socialist
Leader since 1902 1912 1914
Leader's seat Did not run Castropol Madrid
Last election 13 (C· 6 (S) 12 (C· 3 (S) 13 (C· 2 (S)[c]
Seats won 13 (C· 7 (S) 14 (C· 2 (S) 13 (C· 1 (S)
Seat change Blue arrow right0 (C· Green arrow up1 (S) Green arrow up2 (C· Red arrow down1 (S) Blue arrow right0 (C· Red arrow down1 (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.

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

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Following the Bourbon Restoration in 1874, the Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a semi-constitutional monarchy, awarding the monarch the right of legislative initiative together with the bicameral Cortes; the capacity to veto laws passed by the legislative body; the power to appoint senators and government members (including the prime minister); as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the armed forces.[3] 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.[4][5]

Overview

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Electoral system

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The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system.[6] 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).[7][8] Voting for each chamber of the Cortes was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage and censitary suffrage, respectively:

  • For the Congress, it 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. Voting was compulsory, though those older than 70, the clergy, first instance judges and public notaries (the latter two categories, within their respective area of jurisdiction) were exempt from this obligation.[9][10][11]
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.[9]

The Congress of Deputies was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants, distributed among the provinces of Spain.[13] 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.[14] The remaining seats—311 for the 1916 election—were allocated to single-member districts and elected using plurality voting.[15] 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.[16]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:[15][17]

Seats Constituencies
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.[18][19] 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.[20] 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.[21][22] 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.[23]

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 60,000 Pt (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.[24]

The law provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated in both the Congress and Senate throughout the legislature's term.[25][26]

Eligibility

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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.[27][28] A number of other positions were exempt from ineligibility, provided that no more than 40 deputies benefitted from these:[29][30]

  • Civil, military and judicial positions with a permanent residence in Madrid and a yearly public salary of at least 12,500 Pt;
  • 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.

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.[31]

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:[32][33]

  • 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 7,500 Pt 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 20,000 Pt or were taxpayers with a minimum quota of 4,000 Pt 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.

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.[34]

Election date

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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.[35] 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.[36][37] 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.[38]

Results

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Congress of Deputies

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Summary of the 9 April 1916 Congress of Deputies election results
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % A.29 Cont. Total
Liberal PartyLiberal Democrats (PL–LD) 90 138 228
Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) 37 52 89
Maurist Party (PM) 5 13 18
Reformist Party (PRef) 4 10 14
Republican–Socialist Conjunction (CRS) 1 12 13
Regionalist League (LR) 1 12 13
Traditionalist Communion (Jaimist) (CT) 2 7 9
Republican Coalition (PRRUFNR) 2 5 7
Ciervist Conservatives (CC) 1 6 7
Integrist Party (PI) 0 2 2
Autonomist Republican Bloc (BRA) 0 1 1
Burgalese Regionalist Party (PRB) 0 1 1
Independents (INDEP) 2 5 7
Total 145 264 409
Votes cast / turnout
Abstentions
Registered voters
Sources[a][39][40][41][42][43][44][45]
Seats
PLLD
55.75%
PLC
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

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Summary of the 23 April 1916 Senate of Spain election results
Parties and alliances Seats
Liberal PartyLiberal Democrats (PL–LD) 112
Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) 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 seats 180
Sources[46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54]
Seats
PLLD
62.22%
PLC
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

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Summary of political group distribution in the 16th Restoration Cortes (1916–1918)
Group Parties and alliances C S Total
PLLD Liberal PartyLiberal Democrats (PL–LD) 225 112 340
Monarchist Coalition (MON) 3 0
PLC Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) 88 35 125
Monarchist Coalition (MON) 2 0
PM Maurist Party (PM) 17 6 23
LR Regionalist League (LR) 13 7 20
PRef Reformist Party (PRef) 14 2 16
CRS Republican Party (PRep) 10 1 14
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 1 0
Autonomist Republican Union Party (PURA) 1 0
Independent Republicans (R.IND) 1 0
CT Traditionalist Communion (Jaimist) (CT) 9 1 10
CC Ciervist Conservatives (CC) 7 2 9
PRR–
UFNR
Radical Republican Party (PRR) 5 0 7
Republican Nationalist Federal Union (UFNR) 2 0
PI Integrist Party (PI) 2 1 3
BRA Autonomist Republican Bloc (BRA) 1 0 1
PRB Burgalese Regionalist Party (PRB) 1 0 1
INDEP Independents (INDEP) 3 2 11
Basque Dynastics (Urquijist) (DV) 1 2
Independent Catholics (CAT) 2 0
Independent Liberals (L.IND) 1 0
ARCH Archbishops (ARCH) 0 9 9
Total 409 180 589

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c 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

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  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. ^ Constitution (1876), arts. 18, 22, 41, 44 & 51–54.
  4. ^ Martorell Linares 1997, pp. 139–143.
  5. ^ Martínez Relanzón 2017, pp. 147–148.
  6. ^ Constitution (1876), arts. 18–19 & 41.
  7. ^ Constitution (1876), arts. 38, 42 & 45.
  8. ^ "El Senado en la historia constitucional española". Senate of Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  9. ^ a b Law of 8 August (1907), arts. 1–3.
  10. ^ García Muñoz 2002, pp. 107–108.
  11. ^ Carreras de Odriozola & Tafunell Sambola 2005, p. 1077.
  12. ^ Law of 8 February (1877), arts. 1–3, 12–13 & 25.
  13. ^ Constitution (1876), arts. 27–28.
  14. ^ Law of 8 August (1907), art. 21.
  15. ^ a b 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.
  16. ^ Law of 8 August (1907), art. 29.
  17. ^ Rules modifying constituency boundaries:
  18. ^ Constitution (1876), art. 20.
  19. ^ Law of 8 February (1877), arts. 21–22 & 53.
  20. ^ Law of 8 February (1877), arts. 1 & 30–31.
  21. ^ Law of 8 February (1877), art. 2.
  22. ^ "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.
  23. ^ Law of 8 February (1877), art. 1.
  24. ^ Constitution (1876), arts. 20–21.
  25. ^ Law of 8 February (1877), arts. 56–59.
  26. ^ Law of 8 August (1907), arts. 55–58.
  27. ^ Constitution (1876), arts. 29 & 31.
  28. ^ Law of 8 August (1907), arts. 4–7.
  29. ^ Law of 7 March (1880), arts. 1–4.
  30. ^ Law of 31 July (1887).
  31. ^ Law of 8 August (1907), art. 24.
  32. ^ Constitution (1876), arts. 22 & 26.
  33. ^ Law of 8 February (1877), art. 4.
  34. ^ Law of 8 February (1877), arts. 5–9.
  35. ^ Constitution (1876), arts. 24 & 30.
  36. ^ Constitution (1876), art. 32.
  37. ^ Law of 8 February (1877), art. 11.
  38. ^ 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.
  39. ^ "Los futuros diputados a Cortes". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Parlamentario. 23 March 1916. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  40. ^ "Las elecciones del domingo". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Heraldo de Madrid. 11 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  41. ^ "Después de las elecciones". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Correspondencia Militar. 11 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  42. ^ "El futuro Congreso". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Mañana. 12 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  43. ^ "Las elecciones". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Imparcial. 12 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  44. ^ "El nuevo Congreso". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Heraldo Militar. 12 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  45. ^ "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.
  46. ^ "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Liberal. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  47. ^ "Los senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Mañana. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  48. ^ "Nuevos senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Heraldo Militar. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  49. ^ "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Imparcial. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  50. ^ "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Correspondencia Militar. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  51. ^ "Elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Globo. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  52. ^ "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Correspondencia de España. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  53. ^ "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Siglo Futuro. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  54. ^ "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

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