Spanish general election, 1899

← 1898

16–30 April 1899

1901 →

All 402 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate
202 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies

Registered

4,237,396

Turnout

2,798,262 (66.0%)

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Francisco Silvela	Práxedes Mateo Sagasta	Germán Gamazo
Party	UC	Liberal	Gamacists
Leader since	1892	1872	1899
Leader's seat	Piedrahita	Logroño	Medina del Campo
Last election	86 seats	268 seats	Did not contest
Seats won	228	102	28
Seat change	142	166	28

Prime Minister before election

Francisco Silvela
UC

Elected Prime Minister

Francisco Silvela
UC

The 1899 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 16 April and on Sunday, 30 April 1899, to elect the 9th Restoration Cortes of the Kingdom of Spain. All 402 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.

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 Liberal parties alternated in power by means of election rigging, which they achieved through the encasillado, using the links between the Ministry of the Interior, the provincial civil governors, and the local bosses (caciques) to ensure victory and exclude minor parties from the power sharing.

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. Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage, which comprised all national males over twenty-five, having at least a two-year residency in a municipality and in full enjoyment of their civil rights.

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Wikipedia