1881 Spanish general election
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All 392 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate 197 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Registered | 846,961 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 604,758 (71.4%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1881 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 21 August and on Friday, 2 September 1881, to elect the 2nd Restoration Cortes of the Kingdom of Spain. All 392 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.[1]
Though formally competitive, the 1881 general election was held under the recently developed system of turno pacifico; in accordance with a semi-formal power-sharing arrangement brokered by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, elections—under influence by machine bosses called caciques—served as a rubber stamp for a routine handover of power initiated by the King. The 1881 election, as expected, sanctioned the pre-arranged handover from the Conservatives to the newly-created Liberal Fusionist Party. From 1881 until the end of the constitutional monarchy, the turno power-sharing plan would continue dominating the Spanish political landscape nearly uninterruptedly.
Overview
Background
The Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a constitutional monarchy, awarding the King power to name senators and to revoke laws, as well as the title of commander-in-chief of the army. The King would also play a key role in the system of the turno pacífico (English: Peaceful Turn) by appointing and toppling governments and allowing the opposition to take power. Under this system, the Conservative and Fusionist parties alternated in power by means of election rigging, which they achieved through the encasillado, 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.[2]
Electoral system
The Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameralism. 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.[3][4] Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of censitary suffrage, which comprised national males over twenty-five, being taxpayers with a minimum quota of twenty-five pesetas per territorial contribution or fifty per industrial subsidy, as well as being enrolled in the so-called capacity census (either by criteria of Education or for professional reasons).[5][6]
For the Congress of Deputies, 88 seats were elected using a partial block voting in 26 multi-member constituencies, with the remaining 304 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, electors could vote for up to six candidates; in those with seven seats, for up to five candidates; in those with six seats, for up to four; in those with four or five seats, for up to three candidates; and for one candidate in single-member districts. Additionally, up to ten deputies could be elected through cumulative voting in several single-member constituencies, provided that they obtained more than 10,000 votes overall. The Congress was entitled to one member per each 50,000 inhabitants, with each multi-member constituency being allocated a fixed number of seats: 8 for Madrid, 5 for Barcelona and Palma, 4 for Seville and 3 for Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Burgos, Cádiz, Cartagena, Córdoba, Granada, Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, La Coruña, Lugo, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Pamplona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santander, Tarragona, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza. The law also provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated throughout the legislature.[3][7]
For the Senate, 180 seats were indirectly elected, with electors voting for delegates instead of senators. Elected delegates—equivalent in number to one-sixth of the councillors in each municipal corporation—would then vote for senators using a write-in, two-round majority voting system. 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, whereas each of the remaining provinces was allocated three seats, for a total of 147. The remaining 33 were allocated to a number of institutions, electing one seat each—the Archdioceses of Burgos, Granada, Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Cuba, Seville, Tarragona, Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; the Royal Spanish Academy; the Royal Academies of History, Fine Arts, Sciences, Moral and Political Sciences and Medicine; the Universities of Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Havana, Oviedo, Salamanca, Santiago, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza; and the Economic Societies of Friends of the Country from Madrid, Barcelona, Cuba–Puerto Rico, 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; as well as other high-ranking state figures—and senators for life (who were appointed by the Monarch).[8][9][10]
Election date
The term of each House 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 Monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both Houses at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.[3][7][8]
Results
Congress of Deputies
Overall
Mainland Spain
Parties and coalitions | Popular vote | Seats | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | |||
width="1" bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Liberal Fusionist Party (Fusionistas) | 297 | ||
bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (Spain)/meta/color"| | Liberal Conservative Party (Conservadores) | 48 | ||
Progressive–Possibilist Democrats (Demócratas) | 32 | |||
Independent Monarchist Progressives (Prog.i) | 10 | |||
bgcolor="Template:Catholic Union (Spain)/meta/color"| | Catholic Union (UC) | 3 | ||
bgcolor="Template:Traditionalist Communion/meta/color"| | Traditionalists (Tradicionalistas) | 2 | ||
bgcolor="Template:Basque Union/meta/color"| | Fuerist Party of the Basque Union (PFUV) | 1 | ||
bgcolor="Template:Independent politician/meta/color"| | Independents (Independientes) | 9 | ||
Total | 604,758 | 392 | ||
Votes cast / turnout | 604,758 | 71.40 | ||
Abstentions | 242,203 | 28.60 | ||
Registered voters | 846,961 | |||
Sources[11][12][13] |
Cuba
Parties and coalitions | Popular vote | Seats | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | |||
width="1" bgcolor="Template:Constitutional Union of Cuba/meta/color"| | Constitutional Union Party (Unión Conservadora) | 18 | ||
bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party of Cuba/meta/color"| | Liberal Party (Liberal) | 4 | ||
Progressive Liberal Party (Liberal Progresista) | 2 | |||
Total | 24 | |||
Votes cast / turnout | ||||
Abstentions | ||||
Registered voters | 31,295 | |||
Sources[14] |
Elected deputies
The following table lists the elected deputies:[15][16][17]
By-elections
Constituency | Date | Elected member | Allegiance | Cause | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Algeciras | 27 November 1881 | José González Roncero | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Incapacitation of José González de la Vega |
Mataró | 4 December 1881 | José García Oliver | width="1" bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Incapacitation of Francisco Taulina y Garriga |
Cáceres | 4 December 1881 | Manuel Falcó y Osorio d'Adda y Gutiérrez de los Ríos | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Nullification of the election of Manuel Falcó y Osorio d'Adda |
Salas de los Infantes | 29 January 1882 | Enrique Santana López | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Pedro González Marrón |
Castrojeriz | 5 February 1882 | Andrés Caballero y Muguiro | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Manuel Alonso Martínez |
Lucena del Cid | 23 April 1882 | Emilio Sánchez Pastor | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Death of José María Tuero y Madrid |
Huéscar | 30 April 1882 | José Carreño de la Cuadra | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of José Carreño de la Cuadra |
Dolores | 21 May 1882 | José de Granda González | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Manuel González Llana |
Lérida | 21 May 1882 | José María Celleruelo y Poviones | bgcolor="Template:Possibilist Democratic Party/meta/color"| | Possibilist | Choice of Borjas by Jaime Nuet y Minguell |
Benabarre | 2 July 1882 | Francisco Moncasi y Castel | bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (Spain)/meta/color"| | Conservative | Death of Manuel León Moncasi y Castel |
Grazalema | 6 August 1882 | Leandro Antolín Ruiz Martínez | bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (Spain)/meta/color"| | Conservative | Resignation of Francisco Ruiz Martínez |
Orihuela | 20 August 1882 | Trinitario Ruiz Capdepón | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Trinitario Ruiz Capdepón |
La Vecilla | 4 February 1883 | Ricardo Muñoz Viglietti | bgcolor="Template:Independent politician/meta/color"| | Unknown | Death of Juan Piñán y Alonso de la Barcena |
Torroella de Montgrí | 26 February 1883 | Alberto Quintana y Combis | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Alberto Quintana y Combis |
Ciudad Real | 4 March 1883 | Luis del Rey y Medrano | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Luis del Rey y Medrano |
Boltaña | 4 March 1883 | Ramón de La Cadena y Laguna | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Ramón de La Cadena y Laguna |
Albacete | 11 March 1883 | Fernando Salamanca y Livermore | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Death of José Salamanca y Mayol |
La Bisbal | 18 March 1883 | Alberto Camps y Armet | bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (Spain)/meta/color"| | Conservative | Nullification of the election of Francisco Sala y Pou |
Alcaraz | 25 March 1883 | Octavio Cuartero Cifuentes | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Antonio Ortiz y Ustáriz |
Cuenca | 25 March 1883 | Joaquín María Girón y Font | bgcolor="Template:Independent politician/meta/color"| | Unknown | Resignation of Leandro Rubio Martínez |
Granollers | 25 March 1883 | Antonio Ferratges de Mesa Ballester | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Antonio Ferratges de Mesa Ballester |
Solsona | 25 March 1883 | Manuel de Azcárraga y Palmero | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Manuel de Azcárraga y Palmero |
Valencia de Don Juan | 25 March 1883 | Demetrio Alonso Castrillo | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Demetrio Alonso Castrillo |
Motril | 1 April 1883 | Francisco Moreu Sánchez | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Nullification of the election of Gaspar Esteva Moreu |
San Feliú de Llobregat | 1 April 1883 | José Ramoneda y Monés | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Nullification of the election of Miguel Elías Marchal |
Sigüenza | 15 April 1883 | Antonio Botija Fajardo | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Rafael Ruiz Martínez |
Cervera | 22 April 1883 | Vicente Alonso Martínez y Martín | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Choice of Burgos by Manuel Alonso Martínez |
Tolosa | 22 April 1883 | Manuel de la Torre Ortiz y Gil | bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (Spain)/meta/color"| | Conservative | Resignation of Joaquín Gorostegui y Garagarza |
Betanzos | 6 May 1883 | Antonio Vázquez y López Amor | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Nullification of the election of Antonio Vázquez y López Amor |
Castelltersol | 20 May 1883 | Federico Pons y Montells | bgcolor="Template:Independent politician/meta/color"| | Unknown | Nullification of the election of Antonio Rodó y Casanova |
San Clemente | 20 May 1883 | Joaquín Risueño Briz | bgcolor="Template:Independent politician/meta/color"| | Unknown | Choice of Becerreá by Manuel Becerra Bermúdez |
Medina-Sidonia | 27 May 1883 | Francisco Ruiz Martínez | bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (Spain)/meta/color"| | Conservative | Incapacitation of Antonio Álvarez Jiménez |
Montilla | 18 July 1883 | Manuel Mariategui y Vinyals | bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (Spain)/meta/color"| | Conservative | Resignation of Antonio Aguilar y Correa |
Villacarrillo | 22 July 1883 | Genaro de la Parra y Aguilar | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Choice of Sorbas by Carlos Navarro y Rodrigo |
Cádiz | 26 August 1883 | Alonso Álvarez de Toledo y Caro | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Eduardo Genovés y Puig |
Cádiz | 26 August 1883 | Eduardo Garrido Estrada | bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (Spain)/meta/color"| | Conservative | Death of José González de la Vega |
Puentedeume | 2 September 1883 | Gaspar Rodríguez y Rodríguez | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Daniel Rodríguez y Rodríguez |
Daimiel | 20 January 1884 | Emilio Nieto y Pérez | bgcolor="Template:Democratic Progressive Party (Spain)/meta/color"| | Progressive | Resignation of Emilio Nieto y Pérez |
Villanueva y Geltrú | 20 January 1884 | Víctor Balaguer y Cirera | bgcolor="Template:Dynastic Left/meta/color"| | Dynastic Left | Resignation of Víctor Balaguer y Cirera |
Albocácer | 3 February 1884 | Bernardo de Frau y Mesa | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros |
Martos | 3 February 1884 | Joaquín Ruiz Jiménez | bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Fusionist | Resignation of Eduardo León y Llerena |
Vitoria | 17 February 1884 | Sebastián Abreu y Cerain | bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (Spain)/meta/color"| | Conservative | Death of Ramón Ortiz de Zárate Martínez de Galarreta |
Mataró | 24 February 1884 | Juan Martínez Illescas y Moreno | bgcolor="Template:Independent politician/meta/color"| | Unknown | Incapacitation of José García Oliver |
Senate
Parties and coalitions | Seats | |
---|---|---|
width="1" bgcolor="Template:Liberal Party (Spain, 1880)/meta/color"| | Liberal Fusionist Party (Fusionistas) | 135 |
bgcolor="Template:Conservative Party (Spain)/meta/color"| | Liberal Conservative Party (Conservadores) | 15 |
Progressive–Possibilist Democrats (Demócratas) | 12 | |
Democratic Party (PD) | 4 | |
bgcolor="Template:Independent politician/meta/color"| | Independents (Independientes) | 8 |
bgcolor="Template:Nonpartisan/meta/color"| | Archbishops (Arzobispos) | 10 |
Total elective seats | 180 | |
Sources[18][19][20] |
Notes
References
- ^ "Real decreto declarando disueltos el Congreso de los Diputados y la parte electiva del Senado" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish) (177). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 871. 26 June 1881.
- ^ Martorell Linares 1997, pp. 139–143.
- ^ a b c Constitución de 1876 (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish). 30 June 1876. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- ^ "El Senado en la historia constitucional española". Senate of Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 December 2016.
- ^ García Muñoz 2002, pp. 105–106.
- ^ Carreras de Odriozola & Tafunell Sambola 2005, p. 1077.
- ^ a b Ley electoral de los Diputados a Cortes (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (Law) (in Spanish). 28 December 1878. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- ^ a b Ley electoral de Senadores (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (Law) (in Spanish). 8 February 1877. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- ^ Ley dictando reglas para la elección de Senadores en las islas de Cuba y Puerto Rico (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (Law) (in Spanish). 9 January 1879. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- ^ "Real decreto determinando el número de Senadores que habrán de elegirse en cada una de las provincias con motivo de las próximas elecciones" (PDF). Gaceta de Madrid (in Spanish) (184). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado: 23. 3 July 1881.
- ^ Martínez Ruiz, Maqueda Abreu & De Diego 1999, p. 109.
- ^ Carreras de Odriozola & Tafunell Sambola 2005, p. 1093.
- ^ For election results:
- "Elecciones a Cortes 21 de agosto de 1881". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- "Hechas las clasificaciones de diputados, resultan 48 conservadores, 32 demócratas y 12 de otras fracciones". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 26 August 1881. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- "Crónica Universal. España". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Ilustración Católica. 28 August 1881. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- "Elecciones generales para Diputados a Cortes verificadas en los años de 1881 y 1884" (PDF). National Institute of Statistics (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ Roldán de Montaud 1999, pp. 254–258.
- ^ "Elecciones Generales por Provincias". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Correspondencia de España. 22 August 1881. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ "Elecciones". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Fígaro. 24 August 1881. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ "Archivo histórico de diputados". Congress of Deputies (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ "Las elecciones y el Senado". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). El Imparcial. 3 September 1881. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ "Segun cálculos muy verosímiles, las oposiciones traerán al Senado 15 demócratas, 12 conservadores, 10 ultramontanos y 3 independientes". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 3 September 1881. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
- ^ "Más noticias sobre senadores". National Library of Spain (in Spanish). La Época. 4 September 1881. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
Bibliography
- Martorell Linares, Miguel Ángel (1997). "La crisis parlamentaria de 1913-1917. La quiebra del sistema de relaciones parlamentarias de la Restauración". Revista de Estudios Políticos (in Spanish) (96): 137–161. ISSN 0048-7694. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- Martínez Ruiz, Enrique; Maqueda Abreu, Consuelo; De Diego, Emilio (1999). Atlas histórico de España (in Spanish). Vol. 2. Bilbao: Ediciones KAL. pp. 108–110. ISBN 9788470903502.
- Roldán de Montaud, Inés (1999). "Política y elecciones en Cuba durante la restauración". Revista de Estudios Políticos (in Spanish) (104): 245–287. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- García Muñoz, Montserrat (2002). "La documentación electoral y el fichero histórico de diputados". Revista General de Información y Documentación (in Spanish). 12 (1): 93–137. ISSN 1132-1873. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- Carreras de Odriozola, Albert; Tafunell Sambola, Xavier (2005) [1989]. Estadísticas históricas de España, siglos XIX-XX (PDF) (in Spanish). Vol. 1 (II ed.). Bilbao: Fundación BBVA. pp. 1072–1097. ISBN 84-96515-00-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015.
External links
- Historical archive of deputies (1810–1977). Congress of Deputies (in Spanish).
- Elections in the Revolutionary Sexennium and the Restoration. Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish).