1891 Spanish general election

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1891 Spanish general election
← 1886 1 February 1891 (Congress)
15 February 1891 (Senate)		 1893 →
All 401 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate
201 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies
Registered4,800,000
  First party Second party Third party
  Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (cropped).jpg Práxedes Mateo Sagasta (cropped).jpg Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla 1895 (cropped).jpg
Leader Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla
Party Conservative Liberal Republican
Leader since 1874 1872 1880
Leader's seat Cieza Logroño Barcelona
Seats won 260 C / 125 S 77 C / 31 S 31 C / 1 S
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  Francisco Romero Robledo 1906 (cropped).jpg Cristino Martos 1893 (cropped).jpg Portrait placeholder.svg
Leader Francisco Romero Robledo Cristino Martos Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa
Party Romerist Martist Carlist
Leader since 1886 1890 1891
Leader's seat Antequera Orgaz —
Seats won 11 C / 7 S 9 C / 2 S 8 C / 1 S
Prime Minister before election

Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Conservative

Prime Minister after election

Antonio Cánovas del Castillo
Conservative

The 1891 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 1 February and on Sunday, 15 February 1891, to elect the 5th Restoration Cortes of the Kingdom of Spain. All 401 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.[1] The electorate consisted of about 27.3% of the country's population.[2]

Overview[]

Background[]

The Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a constitutional monarchy, awarding the King power to name senators and to revoke laws, as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the army. The King would also play a key role in the system of El Turno Pacífico (the Peaceful Turn) by appointing and toppling governments and allowing the opposition to take power. Under this system, the Conservative and Liberal parties alternated in power by means of election rigging, which they achieved through the encasillado, using the links between the Ministry of Governance, the provincial civil governors, and the local bosses (caciques) to ensure victory and exclude minor parties from the power sharing.[3]

Electoral system[]

The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameralism. 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, where the Congress had preeminence.[4][5] Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage, which comprised all national males over twenty-five, having at least a two-year residency in a municipality and in full enjoyment of their civil rights.[6][7][a]

For the Congress of Deputies, 88 seats were elected using a partial block voting in 26 multi-member constituencies, with the remaining 313 being elected under a one-round first-past-the-post system in single-member districts. Candidates winning a plurality in each constituency were elected. 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; in those with more than one seat and up to four, for no more than one less; and for one candidate in single-member districts. The Congress was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants, with each multi-member constituency being allocated a fixed number of seats: 8 for Madrid, 5 for Barcelona and Palma, 4 for Seville and 3 for Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Burgos, Cádiz, Cartagena, Córdoba, Granada, Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, La Coruña, Lugo, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Pamplona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santander, Tarragona, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza. The law also provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated throughout the legislature.[4][8][9]

For the Senate, 180 seats were indirectly elected, with electors voting for delegates instead of senators. Elected delegates—equivalent in number to one-sixth of the councillors in each municipal corporation—would then vote for senators using a write-in, two-round majority voting system. The provinces of Álava, Albacete, Ávila, Biscay, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Guipúzcoa, Huelva, Logroño, Matanzas, Palencia, Pinar del Río, Puerto Príncipe, Santa Clara, Santander, Santiago de Cuba, Segovia, Soria, Teruel, Valladolid and Zamora were allocated two seats each, whereas each of the remaining provinces was allocated three seats, for a total of 147. The remaining 33 were allocated to a number of institutions, electing one seat each—the Archdioceses of Burgos, Granada, Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Cuba, Seville, Tarragona, Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; the Royal Spanish Academy; the Royal Academies of History, Fine Arts, Sciences, Moral and Political Sciences and Medicine; the Universities of Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Havana, Oviedo, Salamanca, Santiago, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; and the Economic Societies of Friends of the Country from Madrid, Barcelona, Cuba–Puerto Rico, 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 of the first class; Captain Generals of the Army and the Navy Admiral; the Patriarch of the Indies and archbishops; as well as other high-ranking state figures—and senators for life (who were appointed by the Monarch).[10][11][12]

Election date[]

The term of each House 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 Monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both Houses at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.[4][8][10]

Results[]

Congress of Deputies[]

← Summary of the 1 February 1891 Congress of Deputies election results →
SpainCongressDiagram1891.svg
Parties and coalitions Popular vote Seats
Votes %
Liberal Conservative Party (Conservadores) 260
Liberal Party (Liberales) 77
Republicans (Republicanos) 31
Progressive Republican Party (PRP) 11
Possibilist Democratic Party (PDP) 7
Independent Republicans (Rep.i) 6
Federal Democratic Republican Party (PRDF) 4
Centralist Republican Party (PRC) 3
Liberal Reformist Party (Romeristas) 11
Martists (Martistas) 9
Carlists (Carlistas) 8
Traditionalist Communion (CT) 5
Integrist Party (PI) 2
Independent Traditionalists (Trad.i) 1
Independents (Independientes) 5
Total 401
Votes cast / turnout
Abstentions
Registered voters 4,800,000
Sources[13][14][2][15][16][17][18]
Seats
Conservative
 
 64.84%
Liberal
 
 19.20%
Republican
 
 7.73%
Romerist
 
 2.74%
Martist
 
 2.24%
Carlist
 
 2.00%
Independent
 
 1.25%

Senate[]

← Summary of the 15 February 1891 Senate of Spain election results →
SpainSenateDiagram1891.svg
Parties and coalitions Seats
Liberal Conservative Party (Conservadores) 125
Liberal Party (Liberales) 31
Liberal Reformist Party (Romeristas) 7
Martists (Martistas) 2
Republicans (Republicanos) 1
Carlists (Carlistas) 1
Independents (Independientes) 3
Archbishops (Arzobispos) 10
Total elective seats 180
Sources[19][20]
Seats
Conservative
 
 69.44%
Liberal
 
 17.22%
Romerist
 
 3.89%
Martist
 
 1.11%
Republican
 
 0.56%
Carlist
 
 0.56%
Independent
 
 1.67%
Archbishops
 
 5.56%

Cuba[]

← Summary of the 1 February 1891 Congress of Deputies election results in Cuba →
Parties and coalitions Popular vote Seats
Votes %
Constitutional Union Party (Unión Constitucional) 30
Total 30
Votes cast / turnout
Abstentions
Registered voters
Sources[21]
Seats
Const. Union
 
 100.00%

Notes[]

  1. ^ The approval of a new electoral law in 1890 reinstated universal suffrage in Spain, definitely repealing censitary suffrage for all forthcoming elections and extending the franchise from about 5% of the population to nearly 25%. Other changes included a simplification of the electoral process as well as the removal of the system allowing deputies to be elected through cumulative voting.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ "Real decreto declarando disuelto el Consejo de los Diputados y la parte electiva del Senado, mandando reunir las Cortes el día 2 de Marzo próximo, y señalando los días en que habrán de verificarse las elecciones de Diputados y Senadores" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (364): 997. 30 December 1890.
  2. ^ a b Caballero Domínguez 1999, p. 50.
  3. ^ Martorell Linares, Miguel Ángel (1997). "La crisis parlamentaria de 1913-1917. La quiebra del sistema de relaciones parlamentarias de la Restauración". Revista de Estudios Políticos. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Constitucionales (96): 139–143 (146).
  4. ^ a b c "Constitución de 1876". Act of 30 June 1876 (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  5. ^ "El Senado en la historia constitucional española". Senate of Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  6. ^ García Muñoz 2002, pp. 106–107.
  7. ^ Carreras de Odriozola & Tafunell Sambola 2005, p. 1077.
  8. ^ a b c "Ley electoral para Diputados a Cortes". Law of 26 June 1890 (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  9. ^ "Ley electoral de los Diputados a Cortes". Law of 28 December 1878 (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Ley electoral de Senadores". Law of 8 February 1877 (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Ley dictando reglas para la elección de Senadores en las islas de Cuba y Puerto Rico". Law of 9 January 1879 (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  12. ^ "Real decreto determinando el número de Senadores que habrán de elegirse en cada una de las provincias con motivo de las próximas elecciones" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (184): 23. 3 July 1881.
  13. ^ Martínez Ruiz, Maqueda Abreu & De Diego 1999, p. 109.
  14. ^ Fernández Almagro 1943, p. 414.
  15. ^ Carreras de Odriozola & Tafunell Sambola 2005, p. 1093.
  16. ^ "Elecciones a Cortes 1 de febrero de 1891". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  17. ^ "Las elecciones". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Día. 2 February 1891. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  18. ^ "Última hora". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Heraldo de Madrid. 3 February 1891. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Notas de última hora". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Época. 17 February 1891. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  20. ^ "Cuestión Ruiz Zorrilla". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Dinastía. 17 February 1891. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  21. ^ Roldán de Montaud 1999, pp. 269–275.

Bibliography[]

External links[]

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