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1901 Spanish general election

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FieldValue
election_name1901 Spanish general election
countrySpain
flag_year1785
typeparliamentary
ongoingno
previous_election1899 Spanish general election
previous_year1899
next_election1903 Spanish general election
next_year1903
seats_for_electionAll 402 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate
202 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies
election_date19 May 1901 (Congress)
2 June 1901 (Senate)
image1[[File:Práxedes Mateo Sagasta (cropped).jpg170x170px]]
leader1Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
party1Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)
leader_since11880
leaders_seat1Logroño
last_election192 D47 S
seats1246 D116 S
seat_change1154 D 69 S
image2[[File:Francisco Silvela 1905 (cropped).jpg170x170px]]
leader2Francisco Silvela
party2Conservative Party (Spain)
leader_since21899
leaders_seat2Piedrahita
last_election2240 D103 S
seats276 D38 S
seat_change2164 D 65 S
image3[[File:Francisco Pi y Margall 1900 (cropped).jpg170x170px]]
leader3Francisco Pi y Margall
party3Republican
leader_since31901
leaders_seat3Barcelona
last_election313 D1 S
seats315 D3 S
seat_change32 D 2 S
image4[[File:Germán Gamazo 1898 (cropped).jpg170x170px]]
leader4Germán Gamazo
party4Gamacists
leader_since41899
leaders_seat4Medina del Campo
last_election432 D7 S
seats415 D3 S
seat_change417 D 4 S
image5[[File:Carlos O'Donnell 1903b (cropped).jpg170x170px]]
leader5Carlos O'Donnell
party5Tetuanists
leader_since51898
leaders_seat5Senator (for life)
last_election511 D7 S
seats510 D7 S
seat_change51 D 0 S
image6[[File:Francisco Romero Robledo 1906 (cropped).jpg170x170px]]
leader6Francisco Romero Robledo
party6Liberal Reformist Party (Spain)
leader_since61898
leaders_seat6Antequera
last_election63 D1 S
seats612 D2 S
seat_change69 D 1 S
map_image1901 Spanish general election (Congress of Deputies).svg
map_sizex275px
map_captionElection results by constituency (Congress)
titlePrime Minister
posttitlePrime Minister after election
before_electionPráxedes Mateo Sagasta
before_partyLiberal Party (Spain, 1880)
after_electionPráxedes Mateo Sagasta
after_partyLiberal Party (Spain, 1880)

202 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies 2 June 1901 (Senate)

A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 19 May (for the Congress of Deputies) and on Sunday, 2 June 1901 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 10th Cortes under the Spanish Constitution of 1876, during the Restoration period. All 402 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.

Since the Pact of El Pardo, an informal system known as turno or turnismo was operated by the monarchy and the country's two main parties—the Conservatives and the Liberals—to determine in advance the outcome of elections by means of electoral fraud, often achieved through the territorial clientelistic networks of local bosses (the caciques), ensuring that both parties would have rotating periods in power. As a result, elections were often neither truly free nor fair, though they could be more competitive in the country's urban centres where caciquism was weaker.

Conservative prime minister Francisco Silvela resigned in late 1900 as a result of social, political and ecclesiastical backlash resulting from both a tax reform adopted by finance minister Raimundo Fernández-Villaverde and the conflictive marriage between María de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias, and Infante Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Práxedes Mateo Sagasta formed a new government in March 1901, the so-called "Electra cabinet"—in reference to the Benito Pérez Galdós's Electra play which caused a public uproar that hastened the fall of the previous cabinet led by Marcelo Azcárraga—and immediately sought a parliamentary majority for his Liberal Party by triggering a snap election.

The election resulted in a Liberal-dominated parliament that saw new parties such as the regenerationist National Union or the Catalan-based Regionalist League gaining seats for the first time. This would be Sagasta's final electoral contest, as he would resign as prime minister in December 1902 and die on 5 January 1903, aged 77, as a result of bronchopneumonia.

Background

Do not edit this section here. The content of the section is meant to always be identical to the same section across all the Spanish general election pages for the period 1879-1923. It gets automatically copied here (enter WP:Transclusion in the Wikipedia search bar for technical details). To edit the text here enter "Template:Spanish general election background 1879-1923" into the search bar. But be aware that any edits there will effect multiple articles. Content specific to this article should be added in this article alone.

In March 1899, Conservative leader Francisco Silvela formed a regenerationist government that aimed at implementing a program of reforms to address the causes of Spain's decline as a nation—self-evidenced in the country's defeat in the Spanish–American War and the subsequent loss of the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean and Pacific. However, Silvela was forced to resign as prime minister and cede power to Marcelo Azcárraga in October 1900, following the political and social backlash resulting from both the tax reform adopted by his finance minister, Raimundo Fernández-Villaverde—which, while intending to reduce the national debt caused by the war in Cuba, sparked a wave of protests and strikes—and the conflictive marriage between María de las Mercedes, Princess of Asturias, and Infante Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, whose father had fought in the Carlist side during the Third Carlist War. Further, the Carlist uprising of October 1900—an attempted armed insurrection originating in Badalona which spread to other towns in Spain—had led to the suspension of constitutional freedoms in a number of provinces for several months. Azcárraga's government fell in March 1901, unable to deal with these issues and amid a wave of anti-clericalism propelled by Benito Pérez Galdós's Electra play—which caused a storm of both outrage and uproar—, being replaced by a Liberal government under Práxedes Mateo Sagasta, the so-called "Electra cabinet".

Concurrently, regenerationism saw the rise of movements opposed to the Restoration political system. On the one hand, the establishment of the regenerationist National Union (UN) party by Joaquín Costa and Santiago Alba. On the other hand, Catalan regionalism was invigorated following Silvela's refusal to meet their demands and a growing disaffection among the Catalan middle and industrial classes, which in turn led to the establishment throughout 1899 of the liberal conservative Catalan National Centre (CNC) and the Regionalist Union (UR). Both parties would merge in April 1901 into the Regionalist League (LR).

Overview

Under the 1876 Constitution, 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, 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).

Electoral system

Voting for the Congress of Deputies 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. 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 being legally incapacitated, bankrupt, insolvent, debtors of public funds (including their substitutes or jointly liable parties), nor homeless.

The Congress of Deputies was entitled to one seat per each 50,000 inhabitants. 92 members were elected in 26 multi-member constituencies using a partial 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 310 seats were elected in single-member districts using plurality voting and distributed among the provinces of Spain in proportion to their populations. 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.

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

SeatsConstituencies
**8**Madrid
**7**Barcelona
**5**Palma, Seville
**4**Cartagena
**3**Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Burgos, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, La Coruña, Lugo, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Pamplona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santander, Tarragona, Valencia, Valladolid, Zaragoza

Voting for the elective part of the Senate was on the basis of censitary suffrage, which comprised archbishops and bishops (in the ecclesiastical councils); full academics (in the royal academies); rectors, full professors, enrolled doctors, 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 (for delegates in the local councils); and provincial deputies.

180 seats in the Senate were elected using an indirect, write-in, two-round majority 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 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 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 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 with an annual income of at least Pts 60,000 (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 and the Supreme Council of War and Navy, after two years of service—as well as senators for life appointed directly by the monarch.

The law provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated in both the Congress and Senate throughout the legislative term.

Eligibility

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 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. A number of other positions were exempt from ineligibility, provided that no more than 40 deputies benefitted from these:

  • Civil, military and judicial positions with a permanent residence in Madrid 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 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.

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:

  • 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 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'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 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 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 public funds (including their substitutes or jointly liable parties); deputies; local councillors (except those in Madrid); and provincial deputies by their respective provinces.

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 elections were held on 16 April 1899 for the Congress and on 30 April 1899 for the Senate, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 16 and 30 April 1904, respectively.

The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election. 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 24 April 1901, with the dissolution decree setting election day for 19 May (Congress) and 2 June 1901 (Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 11 June.

Results

Congress of Deputies

Parties and alliancesPopular voteSeatsVotes%
Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)}}"Liberal Party (PL)**246**
Conservative Party (Spain)}}"Conservative Party (PC)**76**
Republican Coalition (Spain, 1901)}}"Republican Coalition (CR)**15**
Gamacists}}"Gamacist Liberals (G)**15**
Liberal Reformist Party (Spain)}}"Liberal Reformist Party (PLR)**12**
Tetuanists}}"Tetuanist Conservatives (T)**10**
National Union (Spain, 1900)}}"National Union (UN)**6**
Traditionalist Communion}}"Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT)**6**
Regionalist League}}"Regionalist League (LR)**6**
Autonomist Republican Union Party}}"Blasquist Republicans (RB)**2**
Integrist Party}}"Integrist Party (PI)**2**
Independent politician}}"Independents (INDEP)**6**
Total402
Votes cast / turnout
Abstentions
Registered voters
Sources

Senate

Parties and alliancesSeats
Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)}}"Liberal Party (PL)
Conservative Party (Spain)}}"Conservative Party (PC)
Tetuanists}}"Tetuanist Conservatives (T)
Republican Coalition (Spain, 1901)}}"Republican Coalition (CR)
Gamacists}}"Gamacist Liberals (G)
Liberal Reformist Party (Spain)}}"Liberal Reformist Party (PLR)
National Union (Spain, 1900)}}"National Union (UN)
Independent politician}}"Independents (INDEP)
Nonpartisan}}"Archbishops (ARCH)
Total elective seats180
Sources

Maps

File:1901 Spanish general election (Congress of Deputies).svg|Election results by constituency (Congress).

Distribution by group

GroupParties and alliancesCSTotal
Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)}}"**PL**Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)}}"Liberal Party (PL)245
Urquijists}}"Basque Dynastics (Urquijist) (DV)12
Liberal–Republican Coalition (Spain)}}"Liberal–Republican Coalition (CLR)01
Conservative Party (Spain)}}"**PC**Conservative Party (Spain)}}"Conservative Party (PC)76
Republican Coalition (Spain, 1901)}}"**CR**National Republican Party (Spain)}}"National Republican Party (PRN)12
Federal Democratic Republican Party}}"Federal Republican Party (PRF)20
Centralist Republican Party}}"Centralist Republican Party (PRC)11
Liberal–Republican Coalition (Spain)}}"Liberal–Republican Coalition (CLR)01
Gamacists}}"**G**Gamacists}}"Gamacist Liberals (G)15
Tetuanists}}"**T**Tetuanists}}"Tetuanist Conservatives (T)9
Independent politician}}"Independents (INDEP)10
Liberal Reformist Party (Spain)}}"**PLR**Liberal Reformist Party (Spain)}}"Liberal Reformist Party (PLR)12
National Union (Spain, 1900)}}"**UN**National Union (Spain, 1900)}}"National Union (UN)6
Liberal–Republican Coalition (Spain)}}"Liberal–Republican Coalition (CLR)01
Traditionalist Communion}}"**CT**Traditionalist Communion}}"Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT)6
Regionalist League}}"**LR**Regionalist League}}"Regionalist League (LR)6
Autonomist Republican Union Party}}"**RB**Autonomist Republican Union Party}}"Blasquist Republicans (RB)2
Integrist Party}}"**PI**Integrist Party}}"Integrist Party (PI)2
Independent politician}}"**INDEP**Independent politician}}"Independents (INDEP)5
Independent Catholic (Spain)}}"Independent Catholics (CAT)10
Nonpartisan}}"**ARCH**Nonpartisan}}"Archbishops (ARCH)0
Total402180582

Notes

References

Bibliography

References

  1. (13 July 1901). "Real decreto disponiendo que el domingo 28 del actual se proceda a la elección de tres Senadores por la provincia de Valladolid".
  2. (25 July 1901). "Real decreto suspendiendo la elección de tres Senadores por la provincia de Valladolid".
  3. (9 October 1902). "Real decreto disponiendo que el domingo 26 del actual se proceda a la elección parcial de tres Senadores por la provincia de Valladolid".
  4. (19 October 1902). "Ecos políticos". La Correspondencia de España.
  5. (1 January 1903). "Elección de Senadores en Valladolid". El Año Político.
  6. Herráiz García, C.. "Silvela y la Vielleuze, Francisco (1845-1905)".
  7. De la Santa Cinta, Joaquín. (13 September 2017). "Presidentes del Consejo de Ministros durante la Regencia de María Cristina de Habsburgo-Lorena: Francisco Silvela Le Vielleuze, Marcelo Azcárraga Palmero y Práxedes Mateo Sagasta". El Correo de Pozuelo.
  8. (2 November 1900). "Real decreto suspendiendo temporalmente las garantías constitucionales en la Península é islas adyacentes". Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado.
  9. (10 March 1901). "Real decreto derogando el de 1.º de Noviembre último, por el cual se suspendieron las garantías constitucionales en la Península". Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado.
  10. (6 February 2020). "La Electra de Galdós". RTVE.
  11. (29 October 2023). "Anticlericalismo y pederastia". Cadena SER.
  12. (25 February 2025). "25 de febrero de 1901: El anticlericalismo provoca la caída del gobierno en pleno; surge el Gabinete Electra". Cadena SER.
  13. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
  14. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
  15. "Conocer el Senado. Temas clave. El Senado en la historia constitucional española". [[Senate of Spain]].
  16. {{harvp. Law of 26 June. 1890
  17. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
  18. {{harvp. Law of 26 June. 1890. Law of 28 December. 1878. Law of 1 January. 1871. Law of 23 June. 1885, the {{harvp. Law of 18 January. 1887, the {{harvp. Law of 10 July. 1888, the {{harvp. Law of 18 June. 1895, the {{harvp. Law of 2 August. 1895, the {{harvp. Law of 5 July. 1898, and the {{harvp. Law of 7 August. 1899.
  19. {{harvp. Law of 26 June. 1890
  20. {{harvp. Law of 8 February. 1877
  21. (16 March 1899). "Real decreto disponiendo el número de Senadores que han de elegir las provincias que se citan".
  22. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
  23. {{harvp. Law of 8 February. 1877
  24. {{harvp. Law of 8 February. 1877
  25. {{harvp. Law of 26 June. 1890
  26. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
  27. {{harvp. Law of 26 June. 1890
  28. {{harvp. Law of 7 March. 1880
  29. {{harvp. Law of 31 July. 1887.
  30. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
  31. {{harvp. Law of 8 February. 1877
  32. {{harvp. Law of 8 February. 1877
  33. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
  34. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
  35. {{harvp. Law of 8 February. 1877
  36. (24 April 1901). "Real decreto declarando disueltos el Congreso de los Diputados y la parte electiva del Senado, y disponiendo que las Cortes se reúnan en Madrid el 11 de Junio próximo".
  37. (21 May 1901). "Elecciones generales". El Liberal.
  38. (21 May 1901). "Diputados futuros". El Día.
  39. (21 May 1901). "Las elecciones". El Correo Español.
  40. (21 May 1901). "Futuros diputados". El Siglo Futuro.
  41. (21 May 1901). "Las elecciones". El Globo.
  42. (22 May 1901). "El futuro Congreso". El Liberal.
  43. (22 May 1901). "Las elecciones". El Proteccionista.
  44. (1 January 1902). "Mayo de 1901. Día 19. Elecciones de diputados a Cortes". El Año Político.
  45. (2 June 1901). "Los nuevos senadores". Heraldo de Madrid.
  46. (2 June 1901). "La elección de senadores". El Imparcial.
  47. (3 June 1901). "Elección de senadores". El Liberal.
  48. (3 June 1901). "Los senadores". El Día.
  49. (3 June 1901). "Senadores electos". La Correspondencia de España.
  50. (1 January 1902). "Junio de 1901. Día 2. Elecciones de Senadores". El Año Político.
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