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 Liberal–Democratic Conservative Maurist
Leader since 1912 1913 1913
Leader's seat Guadalajara Vitoria Palma
Last election 117 (C) · 53 (S)[b] 225 (C) · 95 (S) Did not contest
Seats won 228 (C) · 112 (S) 90 (C) · 36 (S) 17 (C) · 5 (S)
Seat change 111 (C) · 59 (S) 135 (C) · 59 (S) 17 (C) · 5 (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 — 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 0 (C) · 1 (S) 2 (C) · 1 (S) 0 (C) · 1 (S)
Prime Minister before election

Count of Romanones
Liberal

Prime Minister after election

Count of Romanones
Liberal

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

The outbreak of World War I in 1914 had seen an expansion of industrial activity as demand rose among the warring powers for Spanish goods—a result of Prime Minister Eduardo Dato proclaiming Spain's neutrality in the war—but the inflow of capital produced inflation and a drop in imports, exacerbating the poverty of some areas in the country. Food riots resulting from the shortage of basic commodities (which came to be known in Spain as motines de subsistencias), coupled with political instability resulting from the Conservative Party's split between the dominant Datist and the minor Maurist and Ciervist factions, led to the downfall of Dato's government and to the appointment of the Count of Romanones by King Alfonso XIII.

Overview

Electoral system

The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system. 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.[2][3] Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of compulsory, universal 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. Those older than 70, the clergy, first instance judges and public notaries were exempt from this obligation.[4][5]

For the Congress of Deputies, 98 seats were elected using a partial block voting system in 28 multi-member constituencies, with the remaining 311 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 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; 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. 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. The Congress was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants, with each multi-member constituency being allocated a fixed number of seats. The law also provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated throughout the legislature.[2][6][7][8]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:[7][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][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 indirectly elected by the local councils and major taxpayers, with electors voting for delegates instead of senators. Elected delegates—equivalent in number to one-sixth of the councillors in each local council—would then vote for senators using a write-in, two-round majority voting system. 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. 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 Royal Spanish Academy; the royal academies of History, Fine Arts of San Fernando, Exact 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. 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; and the presidents of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors, the Supreme War Council and the Supreme Council of the Navy, after two years of service—as well as senators for life (who were appointed by the Monarch).[2][18][19]

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. 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.[2][7][18] There was no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections for 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.[20]

Background

The Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a constitutional monarchy, awarding the monarch power to name senators and to revoke laws, as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the army. The monarch would also play a key role in the system of el turno pacífico (English: the Peaceful Turn) by appointing and dismissing governments and allowing the opposition to take power. Under this system, the major political parties of the time, the conservatives and the liberals—characterized as elite parties with loose structures and dominated by internal factions led by powerful individuals—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.[21][22]

Results

Congress of Deputies

← Summary of the 9 April 1916 Congress of Deputies election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % A.29 Cont. Total
Liberal Party–Liberal Democrats (PL–LD) 90 138 228
Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) 38 52 90
Maurist Conservatives (CM) 4 13 17
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 (PRR–UFNR) 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][23][24][25][26][27][28]
Seats
PL–LD
 
 55.75%
PLC
 
 22.00%
CM
 
 4.16%
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 →
Parties and alliances Seats
Liberal Party–Liberal Democrats (PL–LD) 112
Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) 36
Regionalist League (LR) 7
Maurist Conservatives (CM) 5
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[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]
Seats
PL–LD
 
 62.22%
PLC
 
 20.00%
LR
 
 3.89%
CM
 
 2.78%
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)
Group Parties and alliances C S Total
PL–LD Liberal Party–Liberal Democrats (PL–LD) 225 112 340
Monarchist Coalition (MON) 3 0
PLC Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) 88 36 126
Monarchist Coalition (MON) 2 0
CM Maurist Conservatives (CM) 17 5 22
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

  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

  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. ^ a b c d "Constitución de la Monarquía Española". Constitution of 30 June 1876 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  3. ^ "El Senado en la historia constitucional española". Senate of Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  4. ^ García Muñoz 2002, pp. 106–107.
  5. ^ Carreras de Odriozola & Tafunell Sambola 2005, p. 1077.
  6. ^ "Ley electoral de los Diputados a Cortes". Law of 28 December 1878 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  7. ^ a b c "Ley reformando la Electoral vigente". Law of 8 August 1907 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  8. ^ "Ley mandando que los distritos para las elecciones de Diputados á Córtes sean los que se expresan en la división adjunta". Law of 1 January 1871 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Ley dividiendo la provincia de Guipúzcoa en distritos para la elección de Diputados a Cortes". Law of 23 June 1885 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Ley dividiendo el distrito electoral de Tarrasa en dos, que se denominarán de Tarrasa y de Sabadell". Law of 18 January 1887 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Ley fijando la división de la provincia de Alava en distritos electorales para Diputados á Cortes". Law of 10 July 1888 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  12. ^ "Leyes aprobando la división electoral de las provincias de León y Vizcaya". Law of 2 August 1895 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Leyes aprobando la división electoral en las provincias de Sevilla y de Barcelona". Law of 5 July 1898 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Ley mandando que en lo sucesivo sean cuatro los Diputados á Cortes que elegirá la circunscripción electoral de Cartagena". Law of 7 August 1899 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  15. ^ "Ley estableciendo una circunscripción para elegir tres Diputados á cortes, que la constituirán los cuatro partidos judiciales de Ayamonte, Hueva, Moguer y la Palma, con todas las poblaciones que de ellos forman parte". Law of 24 March 1902 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  16. ^ "Ley disponiendo que el territorio de la Nación española que constituye el Archipiélago canario, cuya capitalidad reside en Santa Cruz de Tenerife, conserve su unidad, ateniéndose los servicios públicos en el modo y forma que se determina en esta ley". Law of 11 July 1912 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  17. ^ "Real decreto disponiendo que la isla de La Palma (Canarias) se divida, a los efectos de las elecciones para Diputados a Cortes, en dos distritos, que se denominarán de Santa Cruz de la Palma y de Los Llanos". Royal Decree of 20 March 1916 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Ley electoral de Senadores". Law of 8 February 1877 (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Real decreto disponiendo el número de Senadores que han de elegir las provincias que se citan" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (76): 1021. 16 March 1899.
  20. ^ "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). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (80): 661. 20 March 1916.
  21. ^ Martorell Linares 1997, pp. 139–143.
  22. ^ Martínez Relanzón 2017, pp. 147–148.
  23. ^ "Las elecciones del domingo". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Heraldo de Madrid. 11 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  24. ^ "Después de las elecciones". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Correspondencia Militar. 11 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  25. ^ "El futuro Congreso". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Mañana. 12 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  26. ^ "Las elecciones". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Imparcial. 12 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  27. ^ "El nuevo Congreso". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Heraldo Militar. 12 April 1916. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  28. ^ "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.
  29. ^ "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Liberal. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  30. ^ "Los senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Mañana. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  31. ^ "Nuevos senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Heraldo Militar. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  32. ^ "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Imparcial. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  33. ^ "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Correspondencia Militar. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  34. ^ "Elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Globo. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  35. ^ "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Correspondencia de España. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  36. ^ "La elección de senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Siglo Futuro. 24 April 1916. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  37. ^ "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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