# 1916 Spanish general election

A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 9 April (for the Congress of Deputies) and on Sunday, 23 April 1916 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 16th Restoration Cortes. All 409 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 had seen an expansion of industrial activity as demand rose among the warring powers for Spanish goods—a result of Prime Minister Eduardo Dato proclaiming Spain's neutrality in the war—but the inflow of capital produced inflation and a drop in imports, exacerbating the poverty of some areas in the country. Food riots resulting from the shortage of basic commodities (which came to be known in Spain as motines de subsistencias), coupled with political instability resulting from the Conservative Party's split between the dominant Datist and the minor Maurist and Ciervist factions, led to the downfall of Dato's government and to the appointment of the Count of Romanones by King Alfonso XIII.

## 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".

## 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 compulsory, 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. Those older than 70, the clergy, first instance judges and public notaries were exempt from this obligation.
For the Congress of Deputies, 98 seats were elected using a partial block voting system in 28 multi-member constituencies, with the remaining 311 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 ten seats or more, electors could vote for no more than four candidates less than the number of seats to be allocated; in those with more than eight seats and up to ten, for no more than three less; 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. Additionally, in those districts where the number of candidates was equal or less than the number of seats up for election, candidates were to be automatically elected. The Congress was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants, with each multi-member constituency being allocated a fixed number of seats. 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, Gran Canaria, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, La Coruña, Lugo, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Pamplona, Santander, Tarragona, Tenerife, 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 8 March and 22 March 1914, which meant that the legislature's terms would have expired on 8 March and 22 March 1919, 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 16 March 1916, with the dissolution decree setting the election dates for 9 April (for the Congress) and 23 April 1916 (for the Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 10 May.

## Results
### Congress of Deputies

← Summary of the 9 April 1916 Congress of Deputies election results → :
| Parties and alliances | Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Popular vote | Seats | Seats | Seats |
| Parties and alliances | Parties and alliances | Votes | % | A.29 | Cont. | Total |
| | Liberal Party–Liberal Democrats (PL–LD) | | | 90 | 138 | 228 |
| | Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) | | | 38 | 52 | 90 |
| | Maurist Conservatives (CM) | | | 4 | 13 | 17 |
| | Reformist Party (PRef) | | | 4 | 10 | 14 |
| | Republican–Socialist Conjunction (CRS) | | | 1 | 12 | 13 |
| | Regionalist League (LR) | | | 1 | 12 | 13 |
| | Traditionalist Communion (Jaimist) (CT) | | | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| | Republican Coalition (PRR–UFNR) | | | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| | Ciervist Conservatives (CC) | | | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| | Integrist Party (PI) | | | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| | Autonomist Republican Bloc (BRA) | | | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Burgalese Regionalist Party (PRB) | | | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Independents (INDEP) | | | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Total | Total | | | 145 | 264 | 409 |
| Votes cast / turnout | Votes cast / turnout | | | | | |
| Abstentions | Abstentions | | | | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | | | | | |
| Sources |||||||
Seats
PL–LD
55.75%
PLC
22.00%
CM
4.16%
PRef
3.42%
CRS
3.18%
LR
3.18%
CT
2.20%
PRR–UFNR
1.71%
CC
1.71%
PI
0.49%
BRA
0.24%
PRB
0.24%
INDEP
1.71% :

### Senate

← Summary of the 23 April 1916 Senate of Spain election results → :
| Parties and alliances | Parties and alliances | Seats |
| | Liberal Party–Liberal Democrats (PL–LD) | 112 |
| | Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) | 36 |
| | Regionalist League (LR) | 7 |
| | Maurist Conservatives (CM) | 5 |
| | Reformist Party (PRef) | 2 |
| | Ciervist Conservatives (CC) | 2 |
| | Republican–Socialist Conjunction (CRS) | 1 |
| | Traditionalist Communion (Jaimist) (CT) | 1 |
| | Integrist Party (PI) | 1 |
| | Independents (INDEP) | 4 |
| | Archbishops (ARCH) | 9 |
| Total elective seats | Total elective seats | 180 |
| Sources |||
Seats
PL–LD
62.22%
PLC
20.00%
LR
3.89%
CM
2.78%
PRef
1.11%
CC
1.11%
CRS
0.56%
CT
0.56%
PI
0.56%
INDEP
2.22%
ARCH
5.00% :

### Distribution by group

Summary of political group distribution in the 16th Restoration Cortes (1916–1918) :
| Group | Group | Parties and alliances | Parties and alliances | C | S | Total |
| | PL–LD | | Liberal Party–Liberal Democrats (PL–LD) | 225 | 112 | 340 |
| | PL–LD | | Monarchist Coalition (MON) | 3 | 0 | 340 |
| | PLC | | Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) | 88 | 36 | 126 |
| | PLC | | Monarchist Coalition (MON) | 2 | 0 | 126 |
| | CM | | Maurist Conservatives (CM) | 17 | 5 | 22 |
| | LR | | Regionalist League (LR) | 13 | 7 | 20 |
| | PRef | | Reformist Party (PRef) | 14 | 2 | 16 |
| | CRS | | Republican Party (PRep) | 10 | 1 | 14 |
| | CRS | | Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| | CRS | | Autonomist Republican Union Party (PURA) | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| | CRS | | Independent Republicans (R.IND) | 1 | 0 | 14 |
| | CT | | Traditionalist Communion (Jaimist) (CT) | 9 | 1 | 10 |
| | CC | | Ciervist Conservatives (CC) | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| | PRR– UFNR | | Radical Republican Party (PRR) | 5 | 0 | 7 |
| | PRR– UFNR | | Republican Nationalist Federal Union (UFNR) | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| | PI | | Integrist Party (PI) | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| | BRA | | Autonomist Republican Bloc (BRA) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | PRB | | Burgalese Regionalist Party (PRB) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | INDEP | | Independents (INDEP) | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| | INDEP | | Basque Dynastics (Urquijist) (DV) | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| | INDEP | | Independent Catholics (CAT) | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| | INDEP | | Independent Liberals (L.IND) | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| | ARCH | | Archbishops (ARCH) | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 409 | 180 | 589 |