1905 Spanish general election

← 1903 10 September 1905 (Congress) 24 September 1905 (Senate) 1907 →
All 404 seats in theCongress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in theSenate 203 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies
First party Second party Third party   Leader Eugenio Montero Ríos Antonio Maura Nicolás Salmerón Party Liberal–Democratic Conservative Republican Leader since 1905 11 November 1903 1903 Leader's seat Senator (for life) Palma Barcelona Last election 104D · 54S[a] 234D · 107S[b] 28D · 1S Seats won 226D · 108S 105D · 48S 25D · 1S Seat change 122D · 54S 129D · 59S 3D · 0S   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader None[c] Enric Prat de la Riba Francisco Romero Robledo Party Villaverdist Regionalist Liberal Reformist Leader since — 1902 1898 Leader's seat — Did not run Antequera Last election Did not contest 4D · 2S 7D · 1S Seats won 16D · 4S 7D · 2S 7D · 1S Seat change 16D · 4S 3D · 0S 0D · 0S
Prime Minister before election Eugenio Montero Ríos Liberal Prime Minister after election Eugenio Montero Ríos Liberal

Ageneral election was held inSpain on Sunday, 10 September (for theCongress of Deputies) and on Sunday, 24 September 1905 (for theSenate), to elect the members of the 12thCortes under theSpanish Constitution of 1876, during theRestoration period. All 404 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.

The informalturno system had allowed the country's two main parties—theConservatives and theLiberals—to alternate in power bydetermining in advance the outcome of elections throughelectoral fraud, often facilitated by the territorialclientelistic networks of local bosses (thecaciques). The absence of politically authoritative figureheads since the deaths ofCánovas andSagasta, together with thenational trauma from theSpanish–American War, weakened the internal unity of both parties and allowed faction leaders and localcaciques to strengthen their positions as power brokers. Sagasta's death plunged the Liberal Party into turmoil, with an inconclusive leadership contest betweenEugenio Montero Ríos andSegismundo Moret seeing the former temporarily splitting (together with supporters ofJosé Canalejas andJosé López Domínguez) into theLiberal Democratic Party.

Francisco Silvela's second tenure asprime minister of Spain was short-lived, as he resigned in July 1903 over disagreements betweenthe Crown andAntonio Maura over the latter's management of election preparations asGovernance minister—which had led to a strong performance byanti-monarchist forces in urban districts in the1903 election—and amid a growing rivalry withFinance ministerRaimundo Fernández-Villaverde, a defender oforthodox economics who opposed Maura'sdeficit 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, followingKing Alfonso XIII's interference in the appointment of a newChief 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 byMarcelo Azcárraga and Villaverde (who had split intohis own political faction), leading to a new Liberal "turn" under Montero Ríos.

Following theBourbon Restoration in 1874, theSpanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as asemi-constitutional monarchy, awarding themonarch—under theroyal prerogative—theright of legislative initiative together with the bicameralCortes; the capacity toveto laws passed by the legislative body; the power to appointgovernment members (including theprime minister); the ability to grant or denyparliamentary dissolution, theadjournment oflegislative sessions and the signature ofroyal decrees; as well as the title ofcommander-in-chief of thearmed forces.^[1][2] The monarch would play a key role in theturno system by appointing and dismissing governments, which would then organizeelections to provide themselves with a parliamentary majority. This informalsystem allowed the two major "dynastic" political parties at the time, theConservatives and theLiberals—characterized asoligarchic,elite parties with loose structures dominated by internal factions, each led by powerful individuals—to alternate in power by means ofelectoral fraud (pucherazo). This was achieved by assigning candidates to districts before the elections were held (encasillado), then arrange their victory through the links between theMinistry of Governance and the territorialclientelistic networks of provincial governors and local bosses (thecaciques), excluding minor parties from the power sharing.^[3][4]

The feud betweenRaimundo Fernández-Villaverde (left) andAntonio Maura (right) over economic policy and theConservative leadership would dominate the 1903–1905 period.

The Restoration system had entered a phase of decline following thenational trauma from theSpanish–American War (the "1898 disaster") and the absence of politically authoritative figureheads since the deaths ofAntonio Cánovas del Castillo (1897) andPráxedes Mateo Sagasta (1903), weakening the internal unity of both dynastic parties and strengthening the position of faction leaders and localcaciques as power brokers.^[5][6] Concurrently, theanti-monarchist opposition became increasingly competitive in urban and some rural districts, partly due to the introduction ofuniversal suffrage since 1890, partly due to the progressive weakening of the pro-government electoral apparatus.^[7][8][9]

Francisco Silvela's return to power in December 1902 had seen the incorporation of the remainingGamacists underAntonio Maura—a strong adherent to Silvela'sregenerationist view of arevolution from power"—into the Conservative fold, with Maura himself being appointed as new governance minister.^[10][11] The rivalry within Silvela's cabinet between Maura (whose position was more flexible in favour ofcorporatism and social reforms, even throughdeficit spending) andRaimundo Fernández-Villaverde (proponent of a rigidorthodox economic policy based onfiscal discipline and thegold standard) led to the latter's resignation asfinance minister in March 1903.^[12][13]

A push bySegismundo Moret (right) for theLiberal leadership led to a party schism withEugenio Montero Ríos (left).

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 ofanti-monarchist candidates in the cities ofMadrid,Barcelona andValencia in the1903 general election^[14]—led to Silvela's resignation on 20 July 1903,^[10][11][15] with youngKing Alfonso XIII appointing Villaverde as new prime minister.^[12][16] This situation would last for only five months, as most of the Conservatives coalesced around Maura (singled out by Silvela as his successor) after a vigorous parliamentary speech in defense of Conservative ideals on 11 November,^[14][17] prompting the downfall of Villaverde's government when it proved unable to get its 1904 budget bill through parliament in December.^[12][18]

A new government under Antonio Maura saw attempts to implement a regenerationist agenda, but his policy of increasingpublic spending caused a rift with theVillaverdists within the Conservative Party.^[19][20] During this period, the government had to deal with the "Nozaleda affair": its attempt to propose Bernardino Nozaleda—formerarchbishop of Manila, questioned for his role during theloss of the Philippines—asarchbishop of Valencia, earning Maura criticism from the opposition.^[14] Maura resigned on 16 December 1904, following the King's refusal to sign the appointment of General Francisco Loño to the newly created post ofChief of the Central Staff of the Army—with Alfonso XIII preferring GeneralCamilo García de Polavieja instead^[21]—sparking a political crisis as no other Conservative leader could command the party's parliamentary support: an interim cabinet byMarcelo Azcárraga fell within one month over disagreements on the date of re-opening of theCortes,^[22][23][24] and asecond government under Villaverde was left in a clear minority, surviving only for as long as the parliament remained closed.^[12][25] Once theCortes were re-opened, the government suffered a string of parliamentary defeats until it was brought down in avote of confidence on 20 June 1905.^[12][26] 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.^[11][12]

Sagasta's death had left theLiberal Party in need of a new leader and political direction.^[27] In a parliamentary assembly held on 15 November 1903,Eugenio Montero Ríos narrowly outvotedSegismundo Moret among party legislators (210 to 194), but fell short of the two-thirds majority required for election.^[28][29][30] The party split into two factions, with Montero Ríos being joined byJosé López Domínguez andJosé Canalejas—who had left both the Liberal government and party the previous year over his disagreement with Moret and Sagasta's deal with theHoly See on the issue ofreligious orders^[31][32]—into the newLiberal Democratic Party.^[29][33] In June 1905, amid the crisis of the Conservative government (seeing five cabinets succeeding each other within two years), Montero Ríos and Moret agreed on a united front to pose a viable political alternative,^[34] which bore fruit upon the former's appointment as prime minister on 23 June.^[29][35][36]

Under the1876 Constitution, the SpanishCortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearlyperfect bicameral system.^[37] Both theCongress of Deputies and theSenate had legislative, control and budgetary functions, sharing equal powers except for laws on contributions or public credit, thefirst reading of which corresponded to Congress, andimpeachment processes againstgovernment ministers, in which each chamber had separate powers ofindictment (Congress) andtrial (Senate).^[38][39]

Voting for theCongress of Deputies was on the basis ofuniversal 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.^{[40][41][42][43]} 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 beinglegally incapacitated,bankrupt,insolvent,debtors ofpublic funds (including their substitutes orjointly liable parties), norhomeless.^[40]

The Congress of Deputies was entitled to one seat per each 50,000 inhabitants. 98 members were elected in 28multi-member constituencies using apartial 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 insingle-member districts usingplurality voting and distributed among theprovinces of Spain in proportion to their populations.^[44][45][46] Additionally, literaryuniversities,economic societies of Friends of the Country and officially organizedchambers of commerce, industry and agriculture were entitled to one seat per each 5,000 registered voters that they comprised.^[47]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:^[45]

Voting for the elective part of theSenate was on the basis ofcensitary suffrage, which comprisedarchbishops andbishops (in the ecclesiastical councils); full academics (in the royal academies);rectors,full professors, enrolleddoctors, directors of secondary education institutes and heads of special schools in their respective territories (in the universities); members with at least a three-year-old membership (in the economic societies); major taxpayers and Spanish citizens of age, being householders residing in Spain and in full enjoyment of their political and civil rights (fordelegates in thelocal councils); andprovincial deputies.^[48]

180 seats in the Senate were elected using anindirect,write-in,two-roundmajority voting system. 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. The provinces ofBarcelona,Madrid andValencia were allocated four seats each, whereas each of the remaining provinces was allocated three seats, for a total of 150.^[49] The remaining 30 were allocated to special districts comprising a number of institutions, electing one seat each: thearchdioceses ofBurgos,Granada,Santiago de Compostela,Seville,Tarragona,Toledo,Valencia,Valladolid andZaragoza; the six oldest royal academies (theRoyal Spanish;History;Fine Arts of San Fernando;Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences;Moral and Political Sciences andMedicine); the universities ofMadrid,Barcelona,Granada,Oviedo,Salamanca,Santiago,Seville,Valencia,Valladolid andZaragoza; and the economic societies of Madrid, Barcelona, León, Seville and Valencia.^[50][51][52]

An additional 180 seats comprised senators in their own right—the monarch's offspring and theheir apparent oncecoming of age;grandees of Spain with an annual income of at leastPts 60,000 (from their own real estate or from rights that enjoy the same legal consideration);captain generals of theArmy andadmirals of theNavy; thePatriarch of the Indies and archbishops; and the presidents of theCouncil of State, theSupreme Court, theCourt of Auditors and theSupreme Council of War and Navy, after two years of service—as well assenators for life appointed directly by the monarch.^[50]

The law provided forby-elections to fill seatsvacated in both the Congress and Senate throughout the legislative term.^[53][54]

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 notcontractors 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 andcivil servants in theCentral Administration.^[55][56] A number of other positions were exempt from ineligibility, provided that no more than 40 deputies benefitted from these:^[57][58]

• Civil, military and judicial positions with a permanent residence inMadrid 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 theterritorial court of Madrid; the rector and full professors of theCentral University of Madrid; inspectors of engineers; andgeneral officers of the Army and Navy based in Madrid.

For the Senate, eligibility was limited to Spanish citizens over 35 years of age and not subject tocriminal prosecution,disfranchisement norasset 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:^[59][60]

• 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 andthe 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'slieutenant generals and Navy'svice 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 andplenipotentiaries 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 theSpanish 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 public funds (including their substitutes or jointly liable parties); deputies; local councillors (exceptthose in Madrid); and provincial deputies by their respective provinces.^[61]

The term of each chamber of theCortes—the Congress and one-half of the elective part of the Senate—expired five years from the date of their previous election, unless they weredissolved earlier.^[62] Theprevious 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 asnap election.^[63][64] 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.

TheCortes were officially dissolved on 17 August 1905, with the dissolutiondecree settingelection day for 10 September (Congress) and 24 September 1905 (Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 11 October.^[65]

← Summary of the 10 September 1905Congress of Deputies election results→

Parties and alliances		Popular vote		Seats
		Votes	%
	Liberal Party–Liberal Democratic Party (PL–PLD)			226
	Conservative Party (PC)			105
	Republican Union (UR)			25
	Villaverdist Conservatives (V)			16
	Liberal Reformist Party (PLR)			7
	Regionalist League (LR)			7
	Federal Republican Party (PRF)			5
	Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT)			4
	Integrist Party (PI)			3
	Independents (INDEP)			6
Total				404
Votes cast / turnout
Abstentions
Registered voters
Sources[66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74]

← Summary of the 24 September 1905Senate of Spain election results→

Parties and alliances		Seats
	Liberal Party–Liberal Democratic Party (PL–PLD)	109
	Conservative Party (PC)	47
	Villaverdist Conservatives (V)	4
	Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT)	2
	Regionalist League (LR)	2
	Republican Union (UR)	1
	Liberal Reformist Party (PLR)	1
	Federal Republican Party (PRF)	1
	Independents (INDEP)	4
	Archbishops (ARCH)	9
Total elective seats		180
Sources[75][76][77][78][79]

• Encasillado

• 1905 elections in Spain
• 1905 in Spain
• General elections in Spain
• September 1905 in Europe

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