A general election was held in Spain on 1 February 1891 (for the Congress of Deputies), and on 15 February 1891 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 5th under the Spanish Constitution of 1876, during the Restoration period. All 442 seats in the Congress of DeputiesâÂÂplus four special districtsâÂÂwere up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate. Following a 1890 reform of the electoral law that saw a change from the previous censitary suffrage to a universal manhood suffrage, the electorate was extended to about 27.3% of the country's population.
Since the Pact of El Pardo, an informal system known as or was operated by the monarchy and the country's two main partiesâÂÂthe Conservatives and the LiberalsâÂÂto 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 election saw a large parliamentary majority for the Conservative Party after Antonio Cánovas del Castillo's return to power in July 1890, following the end of the Liberal "turn" of government between 1885 and 1890.
The 1885âÂÂ1890 Liberal government of Práxedes Mateo Sagasta (later to be known as the "Long Government" or "Long Parliament", in reference to it being the only one during the Restoration period to last its full five year-term) had seen the introduction of many liberalizing reforms: the 1886 abolition of patronage removed the last vestiges of slavery in Cuba; the 1887 Associations Law allowed the establishment of trade unions such as the General Union of Workers (UGT), as well as the celebration of associative congresses and meetings; the 1888 Jury Law favoured freedom of press by ending prior censorship and taking the jurisdiction over crimes such as slander and defamation away from the military; and the 1889 Civil Code which, coupled with the Administrative Procedure Law and the 1888 Administrative Litigation Law (also dubbed in Spanish as Ley SantamarÃÂa de Paredes), codified and structured the existing civil and administrative laws. Finally, the approval of a new electoral law in 1890 reinstated universal manhood suffrage in Spain, definitely repealing censitary suffrage for all forthcoming elections and extending the political franchise from about 5% of the population to nearly 25%. Other changes included a simplification of the electoral process as well as the removal of the system allowing deputies to be elected through cumulative voting.
Sagasta was dismissed by Queen Regent Maria ChristinaâÂÂnearly at the end of his five year-mandateâÂÂin the context of the "hunch crisis" (), referred to as such based on a comment from General Arsenio MartÃÂnez Campos claiming to have the "hunch" that the Liberals' days in power were numbered, amid rumours of the opposition threatening to unveil a scandal that could hurt Sagasta's reputation or that of his family. Under the provisions of the Pact of El Pardo, this paved the way for the next "turn" of government under the Conservatives of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, who assumed office in July 1890 and started preparations for the general election that was to provide the new government with a parliamentary majority.
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)âÂÂwhose first reading corresponded to CongressâÂÂand in impeachment processes against government ministers, where Congress handled indictment and the Senate the trial.
Voting for the Congress of Deputies was based on universal manhood suffrageâÂÂintroduced by the electoral law of 1890âÂÂcomprising all Spanish national males over 25 years of age with full civil rights, provided they had two years of residence in a municipality. In the Spanish West Indies (Cuba and Puerto Rico), voting was based on censitary suffrage, comprising males of legal age who met at least one of the following requirements:
Additional restrictions excluded those deprived of political rights or disqualification from public office by a final court ruling, under criminal penalties, legally incapacitated, bankrupt people, debtors of public funds, and homeless.
The Congress of Deputies had one seat per 50,000 inhabitants. Of these, 107 were elected in 31 multi-member constituencies using partial block voting: in constituencies electing eight seats or more, voters 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 335 seats were elected in single-member districts by plurality voting and distributed among the provinces of Spain and the Spanish West Indies according to population. The 1890 electoral law abolished cumulative voting and introduced special districts, granting universities, economic societies of Friends of the Country and officially organized chambers of commerce, industry and agriculture, one seat per 5,000 registered voters; this resulted in four additional single-member districts.
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:
Voting for the elective part of the Senate was also based on censitary suffrage, comprising archbishops and bishops (in the ecclesiastical councils); full academics (in the royal academies); university authorities and professors (in the universities); members with three years of seniority (in the economic societies of Friends of the Country); major taxpayers and Spanish citizens of legal age, resident householders with full political and civil rights (for delegates in the local councils); and provincial deputies.
180 Senate seats were elected using indirect, write-in, two-round majority voting. Delegates chosen by economic societies, local councils and major taxpayersâÂÂtogether with other qualified electorsâÂÂvoted for senators. The provinces of ÃÂlava, Albacete, ÃÂvila, Biscay, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Guipúzcoa, Huelva, Logroño, Matanzas, Palencia, Pinar del RÃÂo, Puerto PrÃÂncipe, 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 of Friends of the Country. Another 180 seats consisted of senators in their own right (such as the monarch's offspring and the heir apparent once coming of age, grandees of Spain with sufficient income, certain general officersâÂÂcaptain generals and admiralsâÂÂarchbishops, 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.
For the Congress, secular Spanish citizens of legal age, with full civil rights and the right to vote could run for election. Causes of ineligibility applied to contractors of public works or services within the relevant territory; and to holders of certain government-appointed posts, or provincial deputation members, during their term of office and for one year afterwards. Amendments in 1890 exempted government ministers and civil servants in the Central Administration from these causes. Special exemptions from ineligibility were granted to certain individuals, capping at 40 the number of deputies able to benefit from these:
For the Senate, eligibility was limited to Spanish citizens over 35 years of age who were not under criminal prosecution, disfranchisement nor asset seizure, and who either qualified to be senators in their own right or belonged (or had belonged) to certain categories:
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 for up to three months afterwards; contractors of public works or services; tax collectors and their guarantors; debtors of public funds; deputies; local councillors (except those in Madrid); and provincial deputies within their respective provinces.
The term of each chamber of the âÂÂthe Congress and one-half of the elective part of the SenateâÂÂexpired five years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The previous elections were held on 4 April 1886 for the Congress and on 25 April 1886 for the Senate, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 4 and 25 April 1891, respectively.
The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given timeâÂÂeither jointly or separatelyâÂÂand 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 29 December 1890, with the corresponding decree setting election day for 1 February (Congress) and 15 February 1891 (Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 2 March.
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