1896 Spanish general election#Congress of Deputies

{{Spanish general election background 1879-1923}}

The 1892–1895 period of Liberal government under Práxedes Mateo Sagasta had been dominated by the situation in Cuba and Puerto Rico—with attempts from Overseas minister Antonio Maura to grant limited autonomy to the islands failing to materialize—as well as the First Melillan campaign against the Sultanate of Morocco and the persistence of social conflict (with notable incidents such as an attempted 1893 attack on Catalonia Captain General Arsenio Martínez-Campos leading to the approval of a Law of repression of anarchism in 1894).{{cite web |url=https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/5594/praxedes-mateo-sagasta-escolar |title=Práxedes Mateo-Sagasta Escolar |language=es |publisher=Royal Academy of History |access-date=6 September 2022}}{{sfn|Tone|2006|p=230}} This period also saw the Gamazada, a popular uproar in Navarre to a plan by finance minister Germán Gamazo to suppress the fueros—established in the Compromise Act of 1841—that was thwarted by Gamazo's resignation in 1894.{{cite web |title=Gamazada |url=http://www.enciclopedianavarra.com/?page_id=10142 |language=es |website=Gran Enciclopedia de Navarra |access-date=4 May 2023}}

The outbreak of revolution in Cuba in February 1895 and the subsequent Tenientada—the assault and looting of two Madrid newspapers (El Resumen and El Globo) by groups of civilians and military personnel who were upset about published opinions on an alleged reluctancy from military officers to embark to Cuba—caused the downfall of Sagasta's cabinet.{{sfn|Núñez Florencio|1993|pp=545–546}} In March 1895, Antonio Cánovas del Castillo of the Conservative Party was entrusted with the formation of a new government, but electoral preparations were delayed until newly-appointed Cuba governor Valeriano Weyler could ensure the feasibility of holding elections in the colony.{{sfn|Roldán de Montaud|1999|pp=280–281}}

The Spanish {{lang|es|Cortes|italic=no}} were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system.{{harvp|Const. Esp.|1876|loc=tit. II, art. 18–19 & tit. V, art. 41}}. 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, and judicial matters, where preeminence was vested in the Senate.{{harvp|Const. Esp.|1876|loc=tit. V, art. 38 & 42}}.{{cite web |url=https://www.senado.es/web/conocersenado/temasclave/historiaconstitucional/index.html |title=El Senado en la historia constitucional española |website=Senate of Spain |language=es |access-date=26 December 2016}} Voting for the {{lang|es|Cortes|italic=no}} was on the basis of 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.{{harvp|L Dip|1890|loc=tit. I, art. 1–2}}.{{sfn|García Muñoz|2002|pp=106–107}}{{sfn|Carreras de Odriozola|Tafunell Sambola|2005|p=1077}} In Cuba and Puerto Rico voting was on the basis of censitary suffrage, comprising males of age fulfilling one of the following criteria: being taxpayers with a minimum quota—of $5 in Cuba and $10 in Puerto Rico—per territorial contribution or per industrial or trade subsidy (paid at the time of registering for voting); having a particular position (royal academy numerary members; ecclesiastic individuals; active, unemployed or retired public employees; military personnel; widely recognized painters and sculptors; public teachers; etc.); or those meeting the two-year residency requirement, provided that an educational or professional capacity could be proven.{{harvp|L Dip|1878|loc=tit. VIII, art. 142–143}}.{{harvp|RD Cuba & Puerto Rico (1)|1892|loc=tit. III, art. 12–18}}.{{sfn|García Muñoz|2002|p=107}}{{sfn|Roldán de Montaud|1999|pp=280–281}}

For the Congress of Deputies, 116 seats were elected using a partial block voting system in 34 multi-member constituencies, with the remaining 329 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. Additionally, literary universities, economic societies of Friends of the Country and officially organized chambers of commerce, industry and agriculture were entitled to one seat per each 5,000 registered voters that they comprised, which resulted in two additional special districts for the 1896 election.{{harvp|Const. Esp.|1876|loc=tit. IV, art. 27–31}}.{{harvp|L Dip|1890|loc=tit. III, art. 21–24}}.{{harvp|D Puerto Rico|1871|loc=art. 2–3}}.

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:{{harvp|L Dip|1890|loc=trans. prov. 1}}, applying {{harvp|L Dip|1871|loc=art. 1}} and {{harvp|L Dip|1878|loc=tit. I, art. 2}}.{{harvp|RD Cuba & Puerto Rico (2)|1892|loc=art. 1–2}}, applying {{harvp|RD Cuba|1890|loc=art. 1}}.Rules modifying constituency boundaries:

• {{cite act |title=Ley dividiendo la provincia de Guipúzcoa en distritos para la elección de Diputados a Cortes |type=Law |language=es |date=23 June 1885 |url=https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1885/175/A00877-00878.pdf |access-date=6 May 2023}}
• {{cite act |title=Ley dividiendo el distrito electoral de Tarrasa en dos, que se denominarán de Tarrasa y de Sabadell |type=Law |language=es |date=18 January 1887 |url=https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1887/022/A00211-00211.pdf |access-date=6 May 2023}}
• {{cite act |title=Ley fijando la división de la provincia de Álava en distritos electorales para Diputados a Cortes |type=Law |language=es |date=10 July 1888 |url=https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1888/193/A00117-00117.pdf |access-date=6 May 2023}}
• {{cite act |title=Leyes aprobando la división electoral de las provincias de León y Vizcaya |type=Law |language=es |date=2 August 1895 |url=https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1895/216/A00457-00458.pdf |access-date=6 May 2023}}

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 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 special districts comprising 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 other royal academies (History; Fine Arts of San Fernando; Exact, Physical and Natural 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, Havana–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 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 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 appointed directly by the monarch.{{harvp|Const. Esp.|1876|loc=tit. III, art. 20–26}}.{{harvp|L Sen|1877|loc=ch. I, art. 1–2}}.{{harvp|L Cuba & Puerto Rico|1879|loc=art. 1–3}}.{{cite journal |publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado |journal=Gaceta de Madrid |issue=184 |date=3 July 1881 |language=es |title=Real decreto determinando el número de Senadores que habrán de elegirse en cada una de las provincias con motivo de las próximas elecciones |url=https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1881/184/A00023-00023.pdf |page=23}}

The law provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated in both the Congress and Senate throughout the legislature's term.{{harvp|L Sen|1877|loc=ch. V, art. 56–59}}.{{harvp|L Dip|1890|loc=tit. V, ch. II, art. 73–76}}.

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 5 and 19 March 1893, which meant that the legislature's terms would have expired on 5 and 19 March 1898, respectively. The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.{{harvp|Const. Esp.|1876|loc=tit. V, art. 32}}.{{harvp|L Sen|1877|loc=ch. III, art. 11}}. 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 28 February 1896, with the dissolution decree setting the election dates for 12 April (for the Congress) and 26 April 1893 (for the Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 11 May.{{cite journal |publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado |journal=Gaceta de Madrid |issue=60 |date=29 February 1896 |language=es |title=Real decreto declarando disueltos el Congreso de los Diputados y la parte electiva del Senado; disponiendo que las Cortes se reúnan en Madrid el 11 de Mayo próximo, y que las elecciones de Diputados se verifiquen el 12 de Abril y las de Senadores el 26 del mismo |url=https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1896/060/A00727-00727.pdf |page=727}}

For the Congress, Spanish citizens of age and with the legal capacity to vote could run for election, provided that they were not sentenced to perpetual disqualification from political rights or public offices by a final court's decision, or to afflictive penalties if no legal rehabilitation had been obtained at least two years in advance of the election, or to other criminal penalties if the serving of the sentence could not be proven before taking the office of deputy. Other causes of ineligibility were imposed on those physically or morally incapacitated; bankrupt or insolvent persons who had not paid out their debts; and contractors of public works or services; as well as a number of territorial-level officers in government bodies and institutions being barred from running, during their tenure of office, in constituencies within the whole or part of their respective area of jurisdiction.{{harvp|Const. Esp.|1876|loc=tit. IV, art. 29}}.{{harvp|L Dip|1890|loc=tit. III, art. 3–5}}.

For the Senate, eligibility was limited to those entitled to be appointed as senators in their own right or those who had belonged to one of the following categories: presidents of the Senate and the Congress of Deputies; deputies who had belonged to at least three different congresses or serving for at least eight terms; government ministers; other Grandees of Spain; Army's lieutenant generals and Navy's vice admirals, two years after their appointment; ambassadors after two years of service and plenipotentiary ministers after four; other members and prosecutors of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors, the Supreme War Council and the Supreme Council of the Navy, and the Dean of the Court of Military Orders, after two years of service; presidents and directors of the Royal Spanish Academy and the other royal academies (History; Fine Arts of San Fernando; Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences; Moral and Political Sciences and Medicine); full academics of the aforementioned corporations occupying the first half of the seniority scale in their corps, first-class general inspectors of the corps of Civil Engineers, Mines and Forests, full-time university professors with at least four years of seniority in their category and practice (and provided that those had an annual income of at least 7,500 Pt from their own property, salaries from jobs that cannot be lost except for legally proven cause, or from retirement, withdrawal or termination); as well as those who had 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, as long as they were of the Spanish nobility, had been previously deputies, provincial deputies or mayors in provincial capitals or towns over 20,000 inhabitants, as well as those who had ever held the office of senator before the promulgation of the 1876 Constitution.{{harvp|Const. Esp.|1876|loc=tit. III, art. 22}}.{{harvp|L Sen|1877|loc=ch. II, art. 4}}.

{{bar box

|title=Seats

|titlebar=#ddd

|width=550px

|barwidth=500px

|bars=

{{bar percent|PLC|{{party color|Conservative Party (Spain)}}|68.68}}

{{bar percent|PL|{{party color|Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)}}|24.83}}

{{bar percent|UC|{{party color|Conservative Union (Spain)}}|2.68}}

{{bar percent|CT|{{party color|Traditionalist Communion}}|2.24}}

{{bar percent|PI|{{party color|Integrist Party}}|0.22}}

{{bar percent|INDEP|{{party color|Independent politician}}|1.34}}

}}

{{bar box

|title=Seats

|titlebar=#ddd

|width=550px

|barwidth=500px

|bars=

{{bar percent|PLC|{{party color|Conservative Party (Spain)}}|65.56}}

{{bar percent|PL|{{party color|Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)}}|23.89}}

{{bar percent|UC|{{party color|Conservative Union (Spain)}}|1.11}}

{{bar percent|CT|{{party color|Traditionalist Communion}}|1.11}}

{{bar percent|INDEP|{{party color|Independent politician}}|2.78}}

{{bar percent|ARCH|{{party color|Nonpartisan}}|5.56}}

}}

File:1896 Spanish general election (Congress of Deputies).svg|Election results by constituency (Congress).

File:1896 Spanish Senate Election Map.svg|Election results by constituency (Senate).

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• {{cite act |italics=y |title=Ley mandando que los distritos para las elecciones de Diputados a Cortes sean los que se expresan en la división adjunta |type=Law |date=1 January 1871 |reporter=Gaceta de Madrid |volume=27 |issn=0212-1220 |language=es |url=https://boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1871/027/A00217-00232.pdf |access-date=21 August 2022 |ref={{harvid|L Dip|1871}}}}
• {{cite act |italics=y |title=Decreto mandando se verifiquen en Puerto Rico las elecciones ordinarias de Senadores y Diputados a Cortes |type=Decree |date=14 April 1871 |reporter=Gaceta de Madrid |volume=104 |issn=0212-1220 |language=es |url=https://boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1871/104/A00841-00842.pdf |access-date=19 August 2022 |ref={{harvid|D Puerto Rico|1871}}}}
• {{cite act |italics=y |title=Constitución de la Monarquía Española |type=Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy |date=30 June 1876 |reporter=Gaceta de Madrid |volume=184 |issn=0212-1220 |language=es |url=https://boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1876/184/A00009-00012.pdf |access-date=19 August 2022 |ref={{harvid|Const. Esp.|1876}}}}
• {{cite act |italics=y |title=Ley electoral de Senadores |type=Law |date=8 February 1877 |reporter=Gaceta de Madrid |volume=41 |issn=0212-1220 |language=es |url=https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1877/041/A00373-00375.pdf |access-date=19 August 2022 |ref={{harvid|L Sen|1877}}}}
• {{cite act |italics=y |title=Ley electoral de los Diputados a Cortes |type=Law |date=28 December 1878 |reporter=Gaceta de Madrid |volume=364 |issn=0212-1220 |language=es |url=https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1878/364/A00885-00890.pdf |access-date=19 August 2022 |ref={{harvid|L Dip|1878}}}}
• {{cite act |italics=y |title=Ley dictando reglas para la elección de Senadores en las islas de Cuba y Puerto Rico |type=Law |date=9 January 1879 |reporter=Gaceta de Madrid |volume=15 |issn=0212-1220 |language=es |url=https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1879/015/A00137-00137.pdf |access-date=19 August 2022 |ref={{harvid|L Cuba & Puerto Rico|1879}}}}
• {{cite act |italics=y |title=Ley electoral para Diputados a Cortes |type=Law |date=26 June 1890 |reporter=Gaceta de Madrid |volume=180 |issn=0212-1220 |language=es |url=https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1890/180/A00901-00908.pdf |access-date=19 August 2022 |ref={{harvid|L Dip|1890}}}}
• {{cite act |italics=y |title=Real decreto disponiendo que mientras no se publique nueva ley Electoral rija en la isla de Cuba la división en circunscripciones y distritos para la elección de Diputados a Cortes aprobada en el Congreso en la forma que se expresa |type=Royal Decree |date=20 December 1890 |reporter=Gaceta de Madrid |volume=354 |issn=0212-1220 |language=es |url=https://boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1890/354/A00907-00908.pdf |access-date=19 August 2022 |ref={{harvid|RD Cuba|1890}}}}
• {{cite act |italics=y |title=Real decreto disponiendo la forma en que se han de verificar las elecciones de Diputados a Cortes en las islas de Cuba y Puerto Rico |type=Royal Decree |date=28 December 1892 |reporter=Gaceta de Madrid |volume=363 |issn=0212-1220 |language=es |url=https://boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1892/363/A00957-00964.pdf |access-date=19 August 2022 |ref={{harvid|RD Cuba & Puerto Rico (1)|1892}}}}
• {{cite act |italics=y |title=Real decreto declarando subsistente la división territorial para elecciones de Diputados a Cortes en las islas de Cuba y Puerto Rico, establecida por Real decreto de 18 de Diciembre de 1890 |type=Royal Decree |date=28 December 1892 |reporter=Gaceta de Madrid |volume=363 |issn=0212-1220 |language=es |url=https://boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1892/363/A00964-00964.pdf |access-date=19 August 2022 |ref={{harvid|RD Cuba & Puerto Rico (2)|1892}}}}
• {{cite journal |last=Fernández Almagro |first=Melchor |year=1943 |title=Las Cortes del siglo XIX y la práctica electoral |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2126375 |language=es |journal=Revista de Estudios Políticos |issue=9–10 |pages=383–419 |issn=0048-7694 |access-date=16 December 2020}}
• {{cite thesis |last=López Domínguez |first=José María |year=1976 |title=Elecciones y partidos políticos de Puerto Rico: 1809-1898 |url=https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/54455/1/5327102689.pdf |language=es |location=Puerto Rico |publisher=Complutense University of Madrid |volume=1 |access-date=11 September 2022}}
• {{cite journal |last=Núñez Florencio |first=Rafael |year=1993 |title=Los republicanos españoles ante el problema colonial: La cuestión cubana (1895-98) |url=https://revistadeindias.revistas.csic.es/index.php/revistadeindias/article/view/1251 |language=es |journal=Revista de Indias |volume=53 |issue=198 |pages=545–561 |issn=0034-8341 |doi=10.3989/revindias.1993.i198.1146 |access-date=6 September 2022|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal |last=Martorell Linares |first=Miguel Ángel |title=La crisis parlamentaria de 1913-1917. La quiebra del sistema de relaciones parlamentarias de la Restauración |url=https://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/RevEsPol/article/view/45498 |location=Madrid |publisher=Centro de Estudios Constitucionales |language=es |journal=Revista de Estudios Políticos |issue=96 |year=1997 |pages=137–161}}
• {{cite book |last1=Martínez Ruiz |first1=Enrique |last2=Maqueda Abreu |first2=Consuelo |last3=De Diego |first3=Emilio |year=1999 |title=Atlas histórico de España |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U_RL9S5uSF8C&pg=PA109 |language=es |volume=2 |location=Bilbao |publisher=Ediciones KAL |pages=109–120 |isbn=9788470903502}}
• {{cite journal |last=Roldán de Montaud |first=Inés |year=1999 |title=Política y elecciones en Cuba durante la restauración |url=http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/8781/1/POL%C3%8DTICA%20Y%20ELECCIONES%20EN%20CUBA%20DURANTE.pdf |language=es |journal=Revista de Estudios Políticos |issue=104 |pages=245–287 |access-date=19 December 2020}}
• {{cite book |last1=Armengol i Segú |first1=Josep |last2=Varela Ortega |first2=José |year=2001 |title=El poder de la influencia: geografía del caciquismo en España (1875-1923) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QY99T3Mg5ykC |language=es |location=Madrid |publisher=Marcial Pons Historia |pages=655–776 |isbn=9788425911521}}
• {{cite journal |last=García Muñoz |first=Montserrat |year=2002 |title=La documentación electoral y el fichero histórico de diputados |url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/RGID/article/view/RGID0202120093A |language=es |journal=Revista General de Información y Documentación |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=93–137 |issn=1132-1873 |access-date=13 September 2020}}
• {{cite book |last1=Carreras de Odriozola |first1=Albert |last2=Tafunell Sambola |first2=Xavier |year=2005 |orig-year=1989 |title=Estadísticas históricas de España, siglos XIX-XX |url=http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/dat/autores.pdf |language=es |volume=1 |location=Bilbao |publisher=Fundación BBVA |pages=1072–1097 |edition=II |isbn=84-96515-00-1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924010950/http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/dat/autores.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2015 |df=dmy-all}}
• {{cite book |last=Tone |first=John Lawrence |year=2006 |title=War and Genocide in Cuba, 1895-1898 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1wv5KHk2_dsC&pg=PA230 |chapter=The Monster and the Assassin |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |pages=225–239 |isbn=9780807830062}}
• {{cite journal |last=Martínez Relanzón |first=Alejandro |title=Political Modernization in Spain Between 1876 and 1923 |url=https://journals.umcs.pl/k/article/view/4152/5068 |location=Madrid |publisher=Maria Curie-Skłodowska University |journal=Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska, Sectio K |volume=24 |issue=1 |year=2017 |doi=10.17951/k.2017.24.1.145 |pages=145–154|s2cid=159328027 |doi-access=free }}

{{refend}}

{{Spanish elections}}

Category:1896 elections in Spain

Category:1896 in Spain

1896

Category:April 1896