1879 Spanish general election

none 1879 Spanish general election Spain 1785 parliamentary no 1876 Spanish general election 1876 1881 Spanish general election 1881 All 431 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate216 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies 952,000 621,436 (65.3%) 20 April 1879 (Congress)3 May 1879 (Senate) 170x170px Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Conservative Party (Spain) 1874 Madrid 288 402,357 64.7% 170x170px Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Liberal Left Coalition 1872 Zamora 64 139,314 22.4% 170x170px Manuel Alonso Martínez Parliamentary Centre 1875 Castrojeriz 13 20,473 3.3% 170x170px Alejandro Pidal y Mon Moderate Party (Spain) 1876 Villaviciosa 11 16,501 2.7% Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Arsenio Martínez Campos Conservative Party (Spain) Arsenio Martínez Campos Conservative Party (Spain) A general election was held in Spain on 20 April 1879 (for the Congress of Deputies), and on 3 May 1879 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 1st es Cortes no under the Spanish Constitution of 1876, during the Restoration period. All 431 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate. This was the first election held following the promulgation of the 1876 Constitution and the new electoral law of 1878, which re-established censitary suffrage. Background Overview Under the 1876 Constitution, the Spanish es Cortes no were conceived as "co-legislative bodies", forming a nearly perfect bicameral system.Constitution 1876 arts. 18–19 & 41. 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)—whose first reading corresponded to Congress—and in impeachment processes against government ministers, where Congress handled indictment and the Senate the trial.Constitution 1876 arts. 38, 42 & 45.https://www.senado.es/web/conocersenado/temasclave/historiaconstitucional/index.html Conocer el Senado. Temas clave. El Senado en la historia constitucional española es Senate of Spain 11 October 2025 Date The term of each chamber of the es Cortes no—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.Constitution 1876 arts. 24 & 30. The previous elections were held on 23 January 1876 for the Congress and on 5 April 1877 for the Senate, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 23 January 1881 and 5 April 1882, respectively. The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.Constitution 1876 art. 32; Law of 8 February 1877 art. 11. 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 es Cortes no were officially dissolved on 10 March 1879, with the corresponding decree setting election day for 20 April (Congress) and 3 May 1881 (Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 1 June.Royal Decree of 10 March 1879 arts. 1–2 & 4. Electoral system Voting for the Congress of Deputies was based on censitary suffrage, comprising Spanish national males over 25 years of age who met either of the following:Law of 28 December 1878 arts. 14–19.Ortega Álvarez Santaolaya Machetti 1996 87García Muñoz 2002 105–106Carreras de Odriozola Tafunell Sambola 2005 1077 Being taxpayers with a minimum quota of Pts 25 in property taxes (paid one year in advance) or Pts 50 in corporate taxes (paid two years in advance); Holding specific positions (such as full academics in the royal academies, cathedral chapter members and parish priests, active public employees with a salary of Pts 2,000, retired public employees, general officers, awarded painters or sculptors, senior court officials and certified teachers); Having two years of residence in a Spanish municipality while proving a professional qualification. In the Spanish West Indies (Cuba and Puerto Rico) the taxpayer requirement was higher (Pts 125, or $25), while former Cuban slaves were barred from voting until three years after becoming freedmen.Law of 28 December 1878 arts. 142–143 & 147.López Domínguez 1976 341–342Roldán de Montaud 1999 249 In the Basque Provinces and Navarre—where taxes were not paid directly—voters had instead to prove wealth equivalent to an income of Pts 4,800; or Pts 2,400 in real estate, crops or livestock.Law of 28 December 1878 trans. art. 1. Additional restrictions excluded those deprived of political rights or barred from public office by a final sentence, criminally imprisoned or convicted, legally incapacitated, bankrupt, and public debtors.Law of 28 December 1878 arts. 8, 20, 143 & 147. The Congress of Deputies had one seat per 50,000 inhabitants. Of these, those corresponding to larger urban areas were elected in multi-member constituencies using partial block voting: voters in constituencies electing eight seats could choose up to six candidates; in those with seven seats, up to five; in those with six seats, up to four; in those with four or five seats, up to three; and in those with three seats, up to two. The remaining seats were elected in single-member districts by plurality voting and distributed among the provinces of Spain according to population.Constitution 1876 arts. 27–28; Law of 28 December 1878 arts. 1–3 & 84.Ortega Álvarez Santaolaya Machetti 1996 88 Up to 10 additional members could be elected through cumulative voting if they ran in several single-member districts and obtained over 10,000 votes overall.Law of 28 December 1878 arts. 115 & 147. Cuba and Puerto Rico were allocated 24 and 15 seats, respectively.Roldán de Montaud 1999 250Law of 28 December 1878 arts. 2, 139 & 147 (suppl. supplemented by Decree of 1 April 1871 art. 2); Decree of 31 January 1879 art. 1. As a result of the aforementioned allocation, 320 single-member districts were established, and each Congress multi-member constituency (a total of 31, electing 111 seats) was entitled the following seats:Seat allocation:Peninsular Spain and archipelagos: Law of 28 December 1878 arts. 2–3 (suppl. supplemented by Law of 1 January (II) 1871 art. 1 & attached table. Spanish West Indies: Law of 28 December 1878 arts. 2–3, 139 & 147 (suppl. supplemented by Decree of 1 April 1871 art. 2–3 & attached table); Decree of 31 January 1879 art. 1. Seats Constituencies 8 Havana, Madrid 5 Barcelona, Palma, Santa Clara 4 Santiago de Cuba, Seville 3 Alicante, Almería, Badajoz, Burgos, Cádiz, Cartagena, Córdoba, Granada, Jaén, Jerez de la Frontera, La Coruña, Lugo, Málaga, Matanzas, Murcia, Oviedo, Pamplona, Pinar del Río, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santander, Tarragona, Valencia, Valladolid, Zaragoza Voting for the elective part of the Senate was also based on censitary suffrage, comprising Spanish male householders of voting age, residing in a Spanish municipality, with full political and civil rights, who met either of the following:Law of 8 February 1877 arts. 1–3, 12–13, 23 & 25. Being qualified electors (such as archbishops, bishops and cathedral chapter members, in the archdioceses; full academics, in the royal academies; university authorities and professors, in the universities; or provincial deputies); Being elected as delegates (either by members with three years of seniority (in the economic societies of Friends of the Country; or by major taxpayers for direct taxes and local authorities, in the local councils). 180 Senate seats were elected using indirect, two-round majority voting. Delegates chosen by local councils—each of which was assigned an initial minimum of one delegate, with one additional delegate for every six councillors—voted for senators together with provincial deputies. The provinces of Álava, Albacete, Ávila, Biscay, Canaries, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Guipúzcoa, Huelva, Logroño, Matanzas, Palencia, Pinar del Río, Puerto Príncipe, Santa Clara, Santander, Santiago de Cuba, Segovia, Soria, Teruel and Valladolid 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,The following were considered as the major districts in each category:Archdioceses: Burgos, Granada, Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Cuba, Seville, Tarragona, Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid, and Zaragoza. Royal academies: Spanish; History; Fine Arts of San Fernando; Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences; Moral and Political Sciences; and Medicine. Universities: Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Havana, Oviedo, Salamanca, Santiago, Seville, Valencia, Valladolid, and Zaragoza. Economic societies of Friends of the Country: Madrid, Barcelona, Havana–Puerto Rico, León, Seville, and Valencia. each elected by their own qualified electors or delegates.Constitution 1876 arts. 20–21; Law of 8 February 1877 arts. 1–2, 21–22, 30–31, 53 & add. art.; Law of 9 January 1879 arts. 1–3.Carreras de Odriozola Tafunell Sambola 2005 1083 Another 180 seats consisted of senators in their own right (such as the monarch's offspring and the heir apparent once coming of age (16), grandees of Spain with an income of Pts 60,000, certain general officers—captain generals and admirals—the Patriarch of the Indies and archbishops, and the heads of higher courts and state institutions"State" These comprised the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Court of Auditors and the Supreme Council of War and Navy. after two years of service), as well as senators for life directly appointed by the monarch.Constitution 1876 arts. 20–21, 66 & 71. The law provided for by-elections to fill vacant seats during the legislative term. At least two vacancies were required to trigger a by-election in Congress multi-member constituencies; when only two vacancies were to be filled, voters could choose only one candidate.Law of 8 February 1877 arts. 56–59; Law of 28 December 1878 arts. 110–113 & 146–147. Candidates Nomination rules For the Congress, secular Spanish males of voting age, with full civil rights, could run for election. Causes of ineligibility applied to those excluded from voting and to former slaves in Cuba until ten years after becoming freedmen, as well as to:Roldán de Montaud 1999 249Constitution 1876 art. 29; Law of 28 December 1878 arts. 7–10, 115, 141 & 147. Public contractors, within their relevant territories and up to one year after the end of their contracts; Holders of a number of territorial posts (such as government-appointed positions, not including Central Administration employees; local and provincial employees; certain technical officials—civil, mining and forest engineers—and presidents of polling stations), within their areas of jurisdiction, during their term of office and up to one year afterwards; Holders of any government-appointed post between the election call and election day, for those seeking a seat through cumulative voting. For the Senate, eligibility was limited to Spanish males over 35 years of age not under criminal prosecution, disfranchisement nor asset seizure, and who either qualified as senators in their own right or belonged (or had belonged) to certain categories:Constitution 1876 arts. 22 & 26; Law of 8 February 1877 art. 4. Provided an income of Pts 7,500: the presidents of the Senate and the Congress; deputies serving in three different congresses or eight terms; government ministers; bishops; grandees of Spain not eligible as senators in their own right; and various senior officials after two years of service (such as certain general officers—lieutenant generals and vice admirals—and members of higher courts and state institutions);"State" heads of diplomatic missions abroad (ambassadors after two years, and plenipotentiaries after four); heads and full academics in the royal academies; chief engineers; and full professors with four years of service; Provided an income of Pts 20,000 or being taxpayers with a minimum quota of Pts 4,000 in direct taxes (paid two years in advance): Spanish nobility; and former deputies, provincial deputies or mayors in provincial capitals or towns over 20,000; Having served as senators before the promulgation of the 1876 Constitution. 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 up to three months afterwards; public contractors; tax collectors; and public debtors.Law of 8 February 1877 arts. 5–6. Incompatibility rules barred representing multiple constituencies simultaneously, as well as combining:Constitution 1876 arts. 25 & 31; Law of 8 February 1877 arts. 5–10; Royal Decree of 11 January 1876 arts. 1–5 (suppl. supplemented by Law of 1 January (I) 1871 arts. 1–2); Law of 28 December 1878 arts. 118 & 147. The role of senator with other legislative roles (deputy, senator and local councillor, except those in Madrid; and provincial deputies within their respective provinces); or with any public post not explicitly permitted under Senate eligibility requirements. The role of deputy with any government-appointed post, with exceptions—and as many as 40 deputies allowed to simultaneously benefit from these—including government ministers; and a number of specific posts based in Madrid, such as general officers, chiefs in the Central Administration (provided a public salary of Pts 12,500); senior court officials; university authorities and professors; and chief engineers with two years of service. Results Congress of Deputies + ← Summary of the 20 April 1879 Congress of Deputies election results → center|400px Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats VotesIn multi-member constituencies, votes have been allocated by calculating the arithmetic average of each candidacy and adding it to the votes of single-member constituencies. % Liberal Conservative Party (Conservadores) 402,357 64.75 288 Liberal Left Coalition (Izquierda Liberal) 139,314 22.42 64 Constitutional Party (PC) 49 Democratic Progressive Party (PPD) 9 Democratic Party (PD) 6 Parliamentary Centre (Centro Parlamentario) 20,473 3.29 13 Moderate Party (Moderados) 16,501 2.66 11 Ultramontanists (Ultramontanos) 7,965 1.28 7 Fuerist Party of the Basque Union (PFUV) 3,861 0.62 1 Independents (Independientes) 22,729 3.66 6 Other candidates/blank ballots 8,236 1.33 0 Vacants — — 2 Total 621,436 392 Votes cast / turnout 621,436 65.28 Abstentions 330,564 34.72 Registered voters 952,000 SourcesLópez Domínguez 1976 343–345, 354–357 & 750–756Villa García 2013 129–138Caballero Domínguez 1999 50Carreras de Odriozola Tafunell Sambola 2005 1093http://www.historiaelectoral.com/e1879.html Elecciones a Cortes 20 de abril de 1879 es Historia Electoral.com 12 December 2020 Popular vote #ddd 550px 500px Conservative Conservative Party (Spain) 64.75 Liberal Left Liberal Left Coalition 22.42 Centre Parliamentary Centre 3.29 Moderate Moderate Party (Spain) 2.66 Ultramontanist Traditionalist Communion 1.28 PFUV Basque Union 0.62 Independent Independent politician 3.66 Others #777777 1.33 Seats #ddd 550px 500px Conservative Conservative Party (Spain) 73.47 Liberal Left Liberal Left Coalition 16.33 Centre Parliamentary Centre 3.32 Moderate Moderate Party (Spain) 2.81 Ultramontanist Traditionalist Communion 1.79 PFUV Basque Union 0.26 Independent Independent politician 1.53 Cuba + ← Summary of the 20 April 1879 Congress of Deputies election results in Cuba → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % Constitutional Union Party (Unión Constitucional) 17 Liberal Party (Liberal) 7 Total 17,734 24 Votes cast / turnout 17,734 56.16 Abstentions 13,844 43.84 Registered voters 31,578 SourcesRoldán de Montaud 1999 251–254 Seats #ddd 550px 500px Const. Union Constitutional Union of Cuba 70.33 Liberal Liberal Party of Cuba 29.17 See also Encasillado Notes References Bibliography Legislation 30em y Ley fijando las excepciones al art. 12 de la electoral vigente, relativo a incompatibilidad del cargo de Diputado a Cortes Law 1 January 1871 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1871/026/A00201-00202.pdf 17 August 2025 Law of 1 January (I) 1871 y Ley mandando que los distritos para las elecciones de Diputados a Cortes sean los que se expresan en la división adjunta Law 1 January 1871 Madrid Gazette es https://boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1871/027/A00217-00232.pdf 21 August 2022 Law of 1 January (II) 1871 y Decreto mandando se verifiquen en Puerto Rico las elecciones ordinarias de Senadores y Diputados a Cortes Decree 1 April 1871 Madrid Gazette es https://boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1871/104/A00841-00842.pdf 19 August 2022 Decree of 1 April 1871 y Real decreto dictando reglas sobre incompatibilidades parlamentarias Royal Decree 11 January 1876 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1876/012/A00089-00089.pdf 4 April 2026 Royal Decree of 11 January 1876 y Constitución de la Monarquía Española Constitution 30 June 1876 Madrid Gazette es https://boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1876/184/A00009-00012.pdf 19 August 2022 Constitution 1876 y Ley electoral de Senadores Law 8 February 1877 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1877/041/A00373-00375.pdf 19 August 2022 Law of 8 February 1877 y Ley electoral de los Diputados a Cortes Law 28 December 1878 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1878/364/A00885-00890.pdf 19 August 2022 Law of 28 December 1878 y Ley dictando reglas para la elección de Senadores en las islas de Cuba y Puerto Rico Law 9 January 1879 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1879/015/A00137-00137.pdf 19 August 2022 Law of 9 January 1879 y Decreto dividiendo la isla de Cuba en distritos electorales para la elección de Diputados a Cortes Decree 31 January 1879 Havana Gazette University of Miami es https://digitalcollections.library.miami.edu/digital/collection/cubanlaw/id/36928/rec/73 3 April 2026 Decree of 31 January 1879 y Real decreto declarando disueltos el Congreso de los Diputados y la parte electiva del Senado y convocando nuevas elecciones Royal Decree 10 March 1879 Madrid Gazette es https://www.boe.es/datos/pdfs/BOE//1879/075/A00759-00759.pdf 18 August 2025 Royal Decree of 10 March 1879 Other 30em López Domínguez José María 1976 Elecciones y partidos políticos de Puerto Rico: 1809-1898 https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/54455/1/5327102689.pdf es Puerto Rico Complutense University of Madrid 1 11 September 2022 Calero Antonio María 1987 La prerrogativa regia en la Restauración: teoría y práctica (1875-1902) https://www.cepc.gob.es/sites/default/files/2021-12/16390repne055275.pdf Madrid Centre for Political and Constitutional Studies es Revista de Estudios Políticos 55 273–315 0048-7694 Ortega Álvarez Luis Santaolaya Machetti Pablo 1996 Evolución histórica del sistema electoral español https://revista.cortesgenerales.es/rcg/article/view/784 es Cortes Generales Revista de las Cortes Generales 37 0213-0130 10.33426/rcg/1996/37/784 65–107 free Martorell Linares Miguel Ángel 1997 La crisis parlamentaria de 1913-1917. La quiebra del sistema de relaciones parlamentarias de la Restauración https://www.cepc.gob.es/sites/default/files/2021-12/17089repne096139.pdf Madrid Centre for Political and Constitutional Studies es Revista de Estudios Políticos 96 137–161 0048-7694 Roldán de Montaud Inés 1999 Política y elecciones en Cuba durante la restauración https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=27552 es Revista de Estudios Políticos 104 245–287 19 December 2020 Caballero Domínguez Margarita 1999 El derecho de representación: sufragio y leyes electorales http://revistaayer.com/sites/default/files/articulos/34-2-ayer34_DerechosyConstitucion_Flaquer.pdf es Ayer 34 41–63 12 December 2020 García Muñoz Montserrat 2002 La documentación electoral y el fichero histórico de diputados https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/RGID/article/view/RGID0202120093A es Revista General de Información y Documentación 12 1 93–137 1132-1873 13 September 2020 Carreras de Odriozola Albert Tafunell Sambola Xavier 2005 1989 Estadísticas históricas de España, siglos XIX-XX http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/dat/autores.pdf es 1 Bilbao Fundación BBVA 1072–1097 II 84-96515-00-1 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20150924010950/http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/dat/autores.pdf 24 September 2015 dmy-all Martínez Relanzón Alejandro 2017 Political Modernization in Spain Between 1876 and 1923 https://journals.umcs.pl/k/article/view/4152/5068 Madrid Maria Curie-Skłodowska University Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska, Sectio K 24 1 10.17951/k.2017.24.1.145 145–154 free Villa García Roberto 2013 Elecciones sin Turno: los comicios a diputado de 1879 https://ojs.ehu.eus/index.php/HC/article/view/12773/11553 es Historia Contemporánea 46 111–142 10.1387/hc.12773 1130-2402 12 December 2020 10810/38196 free 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). Category:1879 elections in Spain Category:1879 in Spain 1879 Category:April 1879 in Europe