1903 Spanish general election

Background

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The last period in power of Práxedes Mateo Sagasta (1901–1902) saw the coming of age of King Alfonso XIII in May 1902, but also the continuation of the social and regionalist conflicts that had afflicted previous governments. A general strike in Barcelona in February 1902 was violently suppressed, while the government proved unable to address the improvement of labour conditions demanded by the working classes. Sagasta's cabinet also proved unable to resolve the religious question—regarding a disproportionate growth in the establishment of religious congregations, considered contrary to law—nor to tackle Catalan regionalism through decentralizing formulas, but was able to approve a major reform of the education system underwent by the Count of Romanones, public instruction minister (comprising a new study plan in secondary education, the reestablishment of academic freedom, the attribution to the State of the payment of primary school teachers and an expansion of compulsory schooling).

Sagasta tendered his resignation as prime minister two times throughout 1902—first to Queen Regent Maria Christina in March, then to the newly-crowned King Alfonso XIII in November—but they were both rejected. However, growing criticism from the opposition, waning support within his party and a deteriorating health condition forced his final resignation on 6 December and the entrustment of power to Francisco Silvela of the Conservative Party. Sagasta would die of bronchopneumonia one month after leaving office, on 5 January 1903, at age 77.

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. 95 members were elected in 27 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 308 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:

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 19 May 1901 for the Congress and on 2 June 1901 for the Senate, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 19 May and 2 June 1906, 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 26 March 1903, with the dissolution decree setting election day for 26 April (Congress) and 10 May 1903 (Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 18 May.

Results

Congress of Deputies

Senate

Maps

File:1903 Spanish general election (Congress of Deputies).svg|Election results by constituency (Congress).

Distribution by group

Notes

References

Bibliography

References

1. Pons, Marc. (17 February 2017). "Huelga general, por la jornada de 9 horas". El Nacional.
2. 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.
3. "Práxedes Mateo-Sagasta Escolar". [[Real Academia de la Historia.
4. "Práxedes Mateo Sagasta y Escolar". Congress of Deputies.
5. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
6. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
7. "Conocer el Senado. Temas clave. El Senado en la historia constitucional española". [[Senate of Spain]].
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11. {{harvp. Law of 26 June. 1890
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13. (16 March 1899). "Real decreto disponiendo el número de Senadores que han de elegir las provincias que se citan".
14. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
15. {{harvp. Law of 8 February. 1877
16. {{harvp. Law of 8 February. 1877
17. {{harvp. Law of 26 June. 1890
18. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
19. {{harvp. Law of 26 June. 1890
20. {{harvp. Law of 7 March. 1880
21. {{harvp. Law of 31 July. 1887.
22. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
23. {{harvp. Law of 8 February. 1877
24. {{harvp. Law of 8 February. 1877
25. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
26. {{harvp. Constitution. 1876
27. {{harvp. Law of 8 February. 1877
28. (26 March 1903). "Real decreto declarando disueltos al Congreso de los Diputados y parte electiva del Senado, y disponiendo que las Cortes se reúnan en Madrid el 18 de Mayo próximo".
29. (27 April 1903). "Elecciones". El Siglo Futuro.
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31. (27 April 1903). "Elecciones en provincias". El Liberal.
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33. (28 April 1903). "Las elecciones". El Globo.
34. (28 April 1903). "El futuro Congreso". La Época.
35. (1 January 1904). "Abril de 1903. Día 26. Elección general. Diputados proclamados". El Año Político.
36. (10 May 1903). "Las elecciones de senadores en provincias". La Época.
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38. (11 May 1903). "Elecciones de senadores". El Liberal.
39. (11 May 1903). "Senadores electos". El Globo.
40. (11 May 1903). "Las elecciones de senadores". El Siglo Futuro.
41. (1 January 1904). "Mayo de 1903. Día 10. Elección de Senadores". El Año Político.