# 1903 Spanish general election

A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 26 April (for the Congress of Deputies) and on Sunday, 10 May 1903 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 11th Restoration Cortes. All 403 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.
Liberal prime minister Práxedes Mateo Sagasta's last period in power was dominated by the rise of Catalan regionalism and a string of worker strikes, as well as a number of issues—such as the religious and the educational questions—in which the government's results were mixed. A deteriorating health condition forced Sagasta's resignation on 6 December 1902, with power being handed over to Francisco Silvela and his Conservative Party; Sagasta would end up dying one month later, on 5 January. As a result, 1903 was the first election in the Restoration period not to be contested either by Sagasta or by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, both of whom had been the regime's pillars by ensuring its duration and stability for decades. It was also the first election with Alfonso XIII as King regnant, following his coming of age and the end of his mother's regency.

## Background

The Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a constitutional monarchy, awarding the monarch the right of legislative initiative together with the bicameral Cortes; the capacity to veto laws passed by the legislative body; the power to appoint senators and government ministers; as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the army and navy. The monarch would 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 informal system, the major political parties at the time, the Conservatives and the Liberals—characterized as elite parties with loose structures dominated by internal factions, each led by powerful individuals—alternated in power by means of election rigging, which they achieved through the encasillado, assignating the seats in the general elections before they were held by 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. The result was "a liberal system without democracy".
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 public instruction minister Álvaro de Figueroa (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 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 1902 and the entrustment of government to Francisco Silvela of the Conservative Party. Sagasta would die of bronchopneumonia one month after leaving power, on 5 January 1903, at age 77.

## 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. Voting for the Cortes 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.
For the Congress of Deputies, 95 seats were elected using a partial block voting system in 27 multi-member constituencies, with the remaining 308 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. The law also provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated throughout the legislature.
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:
| Seats | Constituencies |
| 8 | Madrid |
| 7 | Barcelona |
| 5 | Palma, Seville |
| 4 | Cartagena |
| 3 | Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Burgos, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva$^{(+2)}$, Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, La Coruña, Lugo, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Pamplona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santander, Tarragona, 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).

### 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 19 May and 2 June 1901, which meant that the legislature's 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 the election dates for 26 April (for the Congress) and 10 May 1903 (for the Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 18 May.

## Results
### Congress of Deputies

← Summary of the 26 April 1903 Congress of Deputies election results → :
| Parties and alliances | Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Popular vote | Seats |
| Parties and alliances | Parties and alliances | Votes | % | Seats |
| | Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) | | | 228 |
| | Liberal Party (PL) | | | 95 |
| | Republican Union Party (PUR) | | | 28 |
| | Monarchist Democratic Party (PDM) | | | 9 |
| | Federal Republican Party (PRF) | | | 8 |
| | Liberal Reformist Party (PLR) | | | 7 |
| | Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT) | | | 7 |
| | Tetuanist Conservatives (T) | | | 6 |
| | Regionalist League (LR) | | | 4 |
| | Integrist Party (PI) | | | 3 |
| | Independents (INDEP) | | | 8 |
| Total | Total | | | 403 |
| Votes cast / turnout | Votes cast / turnout | | | |
| Abstentions | Abstentions | | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | | | |
| Sources |||||
Seats
PLC
56.58%
PL
23.57%
PUR
6.95%
PDM
2.23%
PRF
1.99%
CT
1.74%
PLR
1.74%
T
1.49%
LR
0.99%
PI
0.74%
INDEP
1.99% :

### Senate

← Summary of the 10 May 1903 Senate of Spain election results → :
| Parties and alliances | Parties and alliances | Seats |
| | Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) | 101 |
| | Liberal Party (PL) | 50 |
| | Tetuanist Conservatives (T) | 6 |
| | Monarchist Democratic Party (PDM) | 4 |
| | Regionalist League (LR) | 2 |
| | Republican Union Party (PUR) | 1 |
| | Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT) | 1 |
| | Federal Republicans Party (PRF) | 1 |
| | Liberal Reformist Party (PLR) | 1 |
| | Independents (INDEP) | 4 |
| | Archbishops (ARCH) | 9 |
| Total elective seats | Total elective seats | 180 |
| Sources |||
Seats
PLC
56.11%
PL
27.78%
T
3.33%
PDM
2.22%
LR
1.11%
PUR
0.56%
PRF
0.56%
CT
0.56%
PLR
0.56%
INDEP
2.22%
ARCH
5.00% :

### Distribution by group

Summary of political group distribution in the 11th Restoration Cortes (1903–1905) :
| Group | Group | Parties and alliances | Parties and alliances | C | S | Total |
| | PLC | | Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) | 227 | 99 | 329 |
| | PLC | | Basque Dynastics (Urquijist) (DV) | 1 | 2 | 329 |
| | PL | | Liberal Party (PL) | 93 | 49 | 145 |
| | PL | | Liberal Coalition (CL) | 2 | 1 | 145 |
| | PUR | | Republican Union Party (PUR) | 28 | 1 | 29 |
| | PDM | | Monarchist Democratic Party (PDM) | 9 | 4 | 13 |
| | T | | Tetuanist Conservatives (T) | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| | PRF | | Federal Republican Party (PRF) | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| | CT | | Traditionalist Communion (Carlist) (CT) | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| | PLR | | Liberal Reformist Party (PLR) | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| | LR | | Regionalist League (LR) | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| | PI | | Integrist Party (PI) | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| | INDEP | | Independents (INDEP) | 6 | 4 | 12 |
| | INDEP | | Independent Catholics (CAT) | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| | ARCH | | Archbishops (ARCH) | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 403 | 180 | 583 |