A general election was held in Spain on 12 April 1896 (for the Congress of Deputies), and on 26 April 1896 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 7th under the Spanish Constitution of 1876, during the Restoration period. All 445 seats in the Congress of Deputies—plus two special districts—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 or 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 ), 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.
The previous Liberal government of Práxedes Mateo Sagasta had resigned in March 1895, following the outbreak of revolution in Cuba and a period dominated by social conflict and war in Morocco. Conservative leader Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was tasked to form a new government, but the general election was delayed by over a year until their feasibility in Cuba could be ensured. The election resulted in a large majority for the Conservatives amidst the boycott of most pro-republican parties.
This would be the last election to be contested by Cánovas, as he would be assassinated while in office in August 1897 by an anarchist, Michele Angiolillo.
Background
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 Captain General of Catalonia Arsenio Martínez Campos leading to the approval of a Law of repression of anarchism in 1894). 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.
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. 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.
Overview Under the 1876 Constitution, the Spanish were conceived as "co-legislative bodies", forming a nearly perfect bicameral system.. Both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate exercised legislative, oversight and budgetary functions, sharing almost equal powers, except in budget laws (taxation and public credit)—whose first reading corresponded to Congress—and in impeachment processes against government ministers, where Congress handled indictment and the Senate the trial..
Date The term of each chamber of the —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 5 March 1893 for the Congress and on 19 March 1893 for the Senate, which meant that the chambers' 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.; . 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 were officially dissolved on 28 February 1896, with the corresponding decree setting election day for 12 April (Congress) and 26 April 1893 (Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 11 May..
Electoral system Voting for the Congress of Deputies was based on universal manhood suffrage, comprising all Spanish national males over 25 years of age with full civil rights, provided they had two years of residence in a Spanish municipality and were not enlisted ranks in active duty.. In the Spanish West Indies (Cuba and Puerto Rico), voting was based on censitary suffrage, comprising Spanish males of voting age who met either of the following:. Being taxpayers with a minimum quota of $5 (in Cuba) or $10 (in Puerto Rico) in property or corporate taxes (paid by the time of enrollment); Holding specific positions (such as full academics in the royal academies, cathedral chapter members and parish priests, active public employees with a salary of $100 and two years of service, retired public employees, general officers, awarded painters or sculptors, senior court officials and certified teachers); Meeting the two-year residence requirement while proving a professional qualification. Additional restrictions excluded those deprived of political rights or barred from public office by a final sentence, criminally imprisoned or convicted, legally incapacitated, bankrupt, public debtors, and homeless.; .
The Congress of Deputies had one seat per 50,000 inhabitants. Of these, those corresponding to larger urban areas were elected in multi-member constituencies using partial block voting: voters in constituencies electing eight seats or more could choose up to three candidates less than the number of seats at stake; in those with between four and eight seats, up to two less; and in those with between one and four seats, up to one less. The remaining seats were elected in single-member districts by plurality voting and distributed among the provinces of Spain according to population.; Additionally, universities, economic societies of Friends of the Country and officially organized chambers of commerce, industry and agriculture, had one seat per 5,000 registered voters.. Cuba and Puerto Rico were allocated 30 and 16 seats, respectively. ( by ).
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, 331 single-member districts (including two special districts) were established, and each Congress multi-member constituency (a total of 34, electing 116 seats) was entitled the following seats:Seat allocation:
Seats Constituencies 8 Madrid 6 Havana 5 Barcelona, Palma 4 Santa Clara, Seville 3 Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Burgos, Cádiz, Cartagena, Córdoba, Granada, Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, La Coruña, Lugo, Málaga, Matanzas, Mayagüez, Murcia, Oviedo, Pamplona, Pinar del Río, Ponce, San Juan Bautista, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santander, Santiago de Cuba, Tarragona, Valencia, Valladolid, Zaragoza
Voting for the elective part of the Senate was also based on censitary suffrage, comprising Spanish male householders of voting age, residing in a Spanish municipality, with full political and civil rights, who met either of the following:. Being qualified electors (such as archbishops, bishops and cathedral chapter members, in the archdioceses; full academics, in the royal academies; university authorities and professors, in the universities; or provincial deputies); Being elected as delegates (either by members with three years of seniority (in the economic societies of Friends of the Country; or by major taxpayers for direct taxes and local authorities, in the local councils).
180 Senate seats were elected using indirect, two-round majority voting. Delegates chosen by local councils—each of which was assigned an initial minimum of one delegate, with one additional delegate for every six councillors—voted for senators together with provincial deputies. 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, and the rest three each, for a total of 147. The remaining 33 seats were allocated to special institutional districts (one each), including major archdioceses, royal academies, universities, and economic societies, each elected by their own qualified electors or delegates.; ; ; . Another 180 seats consisted of senators in their own right (such as the monarch's offspring and the heir apparent once coming of age (16), grandees of Spain with an income of Pts 60,000, certain general officers—captain generals and admirals—the Patriarch of the Indies and archbishops, and the heads of higher courts and state institutions after two years of service), as well as senators for life directly appointed by the monarch..
The law provided for by-elections to fill vacant seats during the legislative term. At least two vacancies were required to trigger a by-election in Congress multi-member constituencies.; ; .
Candidates Nomination rules For the Congress, secular Spanish males of voting age, with full civil rights, could run for election. Causes of ineligibility applied to those excluded from voting or meeting any of the incompatibility rules for deputies, as well as to:; ; . Public contractors, within their relevant territories; Holders of a number of territorial posts (such as government-appointed positions, not including government ministers and Central Administration employees; local and provincial employees; and provincial deputation members), within their areas of jurisdiction, during their term of office and up to one year afterwards.
For the Senate, eligibility was limited to Spanish males over 35 years of age not under criminal prosecution, disfranchisement nor asset seizure, and who either qualified as senators in their own right or belonged (or had belonged) to certain categories:; . Provided an income of Pts 7,500: the presidents of the Senate and the Congress; deputies serving in three different congresses or eight terms; government ministers; bishops; grandees of Spain not eligible as senators in their own right; and various senior officials after two years of service (such as certain general officers—lieutenant generals and vice admirals—and members of higher courts and state institutions); heads of diplomatic missions abroad (ambassadors after two years, and plenipotentiaries after four); heads and full academics in the royal academies; chief engineers; and full professors with four years of service; Provided an income of Pts 20,000 or being taxpayers with a minimum quota of Pts 4,000 in direct taxes (paid two years in advance): Spanish nobility; and former deputies, provincial deputies or mayors in provincial capitals or towns over 20,000; Having served as senators before the promulgation of the 1876 Constitution. Other ineligibility provisions for the Senate also applied to a number of territorial officials within their areas of jurisdiction, during their term of office and up to three months afterwards; public contractors; tax collectors; and public debtors..
Incompatibility rules barred representing multiple constituencies simultaneously, as well as combining:; ; ( by ); ; . The role of senator with other legislative roles (deputy, senator and local councillor, except those in Madrid; and provincial deputies within their respective provinces); or with any public post not explicitly permitted under Senate eligibility requirements;