The informal turno system had allowed the country's two main parties—the Conservatives and the Liberals—to alternate in power by determining in advance the outcome of elections through electoral fraud, often facilitated by the territorial clientelistic networks of local bosses (the caciques). The absence of politically authoritative figureheads since the deaths of Cánovas and Sagasta, together with the national trauma from the Spanish–American War, weakened the internal unity of both parties and allowed faction leaders and local caciques to strengthen their positions as power brokers.
The election resulted in a large majority for Maura—who used the system's own mechanisms to secure a disproportionate amount of seats at the expense of the Liberals, breaching a tacit pact between the elites of the two parties—and a huge success for the Catalan Solidarity coalition, formed as a consequence of the political fallout in Catalonia resulting from the ¡Cu-Cut! incident and the approval of the 1906 Law of Jurisdictions.
The Restoration system had entered a phase of decline following the national trauma from the Spanish–American War (the "1898 disaster") and the absence of politically authoritative figureheads since the deaths of Antonio Cánovas del Castillo (1897) and Práxedes Mateo Sagasta (1903),[7] weakening the internal unity of both dynastic parties and strengthening the position of faction leaders and local caciques as power brokers.[8][9] Concurrently, the anti-monarchist opposition became increasingly competitive in urban and some rural districts, partly due to the introduction of universal suffrage since 1890, partly due to the progressive weakening of the pro-government electoral apparatus.[10][11][12]
180 Senate seats were elected using indirect, write-in, two-roundmajority voting. Delegates chosen by economic societies, local councils and major taxpayers—and together with other qualified electors—voted for senators. The provinces of Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia were allocated four seats each, and the rest three each, for a total of 150.[25] The remaining 30 seats were allocated to special institutional districts (one each), including major archdioceses, royal academies, universities and economic societies of Friends of the Country.[26][27][28] Another 180 seats consisted of senators in their own right (such as the monarch's offspring and the heir apparent once of age, grandees of Spain with sufficient income, senior military officers, archbishops, and the heads of major state courts and institutions after two years of service), as well as life senators appointed directly by the monarch.[26]
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. Government ministers and civil servants in the Central Administration were exempt from these causes.[31][32] Special exemptions from ineligibility were granted to certain individuals, capping at 40 the number of deputies able to benefit from these:[33][34]
Holders of civil, military and judicial positions with permanent residence in Madrid and an annual public salary of at least Pts12,500;
Holders of certain positions based in Madrid, such as senior court officials, university authorities and professors, senior engineers, and military officers.
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:[35][36]
Having served as senators before the promulgation of the 1876 Constitution; or as deputies in at least three different congresses or eight terms;
Holders of a wide range of senior public or institutional posts, including the presidents of the Senate and the Congress; government ministers; bishops; grandees of Spain not eligible as senators in their own right; and presidents and directors of the royal academies;
Senior officials after two years of service, including certain military officers (lieutenant generals and vice admirals); and members or prosecutors in major state courts and institutions;
Certain individuals meeting specific income or tax requirements. With an annual income of at least Pts7,500: Full academics in the relevant corporations; senior civil, mining and forest engineers; and full professors with a four-year seniority. With an annual income of at least Pts20,000 or being taxpayers with a minimum quota of Pts4,000 in direct contributions: Spanish nobility; and former deputies, provincial deputies or mayors in provincial capitals or towns over 20,000.
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.[37]
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.[38] The previous elections were held on 10 September 1905 for the Congress and on 24 September 1905 for the Senate, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 10 and 24 September 1910, respectively.
The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election.[39][40] 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 30 March 1907, with the dissolution decree setting election day for 21 April (Congress) and 5 May 1907 (Senate) and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 13 May.[41]
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