A general election was held in Spain from Saturday, 24 August to Tuesday, 27 August 1872, to elect the members of the 3rd Cortes under the Spanish Constitution of 1869, during the Democratic Sexennium period. 406 of 424 seats in the Congress of Deputies and all 200 seats in the Senate were up for election. The election in Cuba was indefinitely postponed.
24–27 August 1872 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 424 seats in the Congress of Deputies and all 200 seats in the Senate 213 seats needed for a majority in the Congress and 101 in the Senate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 1,900,180 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Most of the opposition to the Radical Democratic Party of Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla opted to boycott the election—with the Carlists completely disengaging from electoral participation following the outbreak of the Third Carlist War in April—whereas for the Federal Democratic Republican Party only the "benevolent" faction chose to participate. As a result, the Radicals were able to secure a commanding parliamentary majority without needing to resort to electoral fraud, albeit under a low voter turnout.
Background
The parliament elected in the April 1872 general election was short-lived, as the government of Práxedes Mateo Sagasta was forced to resign in May following a political scandal over a secret transfer of funds from an overseas savings bank (the Caja de Ultramar) to the Governance ministry that was allegedly used to pay for election expenses. Following a 20-day government under Francisco Serrano, King Amadeo I appointed Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla as new prime minister, who formed a Radical Democratic Party cabinet and called a snap election to provide itself with a parliamentary majority.
Zorrilla's government generally attempted to avoid resorting to fraud in the organization of the election process, instructing the provincial civil governors not to impose or recommend official candidates, reforming the census in those places where voters had been disenfranchised from the electoral roll—mostly to facilitate Sagasta's victory in April—and reinstating local councils which had been suspended. While this did not prevent the existence of allegations of government interference, the election was widely seen as more free and fair than previous ones.
Most of the opposition to the Radical government had chosen not to participate in the election: the Constitutional Party and the Alfonsists fielded few candidates, mostly opting for a strategy of "retreat" (retraimiento, akin to election boycott), whereas for the Federal Democratic Republican Party only the "benevolent" faction chose to participate. Discontent with Amadeo's proclamation as King of Spain paved the way for Carlists to withdraw from electoral participation and wage the Third Carlist War in favour of their pretender, Carlos de Borbón, who tried to earn the support of various Spanish regions by promising to reintroduce various area-specific customs and laws (particularly, the Catalan, Valencian and Aragonese fueros which had been abolished at the beginning of the 18th century by King Philip V in his unilateral Nueva Planta decrees).
Overview
Under the 1869 Constitution, the Spanish Cortes were envisaged as "co-legislative bodies", based on a nearly perfect bicameral system. Both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate had legislative, control and budgetary functions, sharing equal powers except for laws on contributions, public credit or military force, the first reading of which corresponded to Congress—which also had preeminence in case of disagreement—and impeachment processes against government ministers, in which each chamber had separate powers of indictment (Congress) and trial (Senate).
Electoral system
Voting for each chamber of the Cortes was on the basis of universal manhood suffrage, which comprised all national males over 25 years of age and in full enjoyment of their civil rights. In Puerto Rico, voting was on the basis of censitary suffrage, comprising males of age fulfilling one of the following criteria: being literate or taxpayers with a minimum quota of 16 escudos. Voters were required to not being sentenced—by a final court ruling—to disqualification from political rights, to afflictive penalties not legally rehabilitated; neither being criminally prosecuted with an arrest warrant not substituted with bail; nor homeless.
The Congress of Deputies was entitled to one seat per each 40,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 20,000. 406 members were elected in single-member districts using plurality voting and distributed among the provinces of Spain and Puerto Rico in proportion to their populations. 18 additional seats were awarded to three multi-member constituencies in the island of Cuba, where elections (as well as the updating of district divisions to comply with the new electoral law) were indefinitely postponed due to the military situation.
All 200 seats in the Senate were elected using an indirect, write-in, two-round majority voting system. Voters in each local council elected delegates—equivalent in number to one-sixth of the councillors, with an initial minimum of one—who, together with provincial deputies, would in turn vote for senators. Each province, as well as the whole of Puerto Rico, was allocated four seats.
The law provided for by-elections to fill seats vacated in the Congress throughout the legislative term. By-elections were not required in the Senate, with vacancies being filled in the next regular election of the chamber.
Eligibility
For the Congress, Spanish citizens with the legal capacity to vote could run for election, provided that they were not holders of government-appointed offices. A number of positions were exempt from ineligibility, provided that no more than 40 deputies benefitted from these:
- Senior Administration chiefs residing in Madrid and with a yearly public salary of at least Pts 12,500;
- The holders of a number of positions: government ministers; general officers of the Army and Navy based in Madrid; the president and chamber presidents of the territorial court of Madrid; the rector and full professors of the Central University of Madrid; and first-class inspectors-general and chief engineers with residence in Madrid and a two-year seniority in office.
For the Senate, eligibility was limited to Spanish citizens over 40 years of age and in full enjoyment of their civil rights, provided that they belonged or had belonged to one of the following categories:
- The holders of a number of positions: presidents of the Congress; elected deputies in at least three general elections or in the Constituent Cortes; government ministers; the presidents of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Council of War and Navy, and the Court of Auditors; captain generals of the Army and admirals of the Navy; lieutenant generals and vice admirals; ambassadors; members of the Council of State; archbishops and bishops; university rectors; presidents and directors of the six oldest royal academies (the Royal Spanish; History; Noble Arts of San Fernando; Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences; Moral and Political Sciences and Medicine); inspectors-general of the corps of civil engineers; provincial deputy at least four times; and local mayors of towns over 30,000 inhabitants at least two times;
- Provided two prior years of service: members of the Supreme Court, the Supreme Council of War and Navy, and the Court of Auditors; plenipotentiaries; and full professors;
- The 50 largest taxpayers by territorial contribution, and the 20 largest by industrial and trade subsidy, in each province.
Other causes of ineligibility for both chambers were imposed on territorial-level officers in government bodies and institutions—during their tenure of office and up to three months after their dismissal—in constituencies within the whole or part of their respective area of jurisdiction; contractors of public works or services; tax collectors and their guarantors; and debtors of public funds (including their substitutes or jointly liable parties); additionally for Puerto Rico, ineligibility extended to those having been convicted of crimes related to the repression of slave trade. Incompatibility provisions extended to the impossibility of simultaneously holding the positions of deputy, senator, provincial deputy and local councillor, as well as serving by two or more parliamentary constituencies.
Election date
The term of each chamber of the Cortes—the Congress and one-quarter of the Senate—expired three years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The previous election was held on 2 April 1872, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 2 April 1875. The monarch had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election. Only elections to renew one-quarter of the Senate were constitutionally required to be held concurrently with elections to the Congress, though the former could be renewed in its entirety in the case that a full dissolution was agreed by the monarch.
The Cortes were officially dissolved on 28 June 1872, with the dissolution decree setting election day for between 24 and 27 August and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 15 September. In Cuba, elections were indefinitely postponed due to the outbreak of the Ten Years' War.
Results
Congress of Deputies
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Total | +/− | ||
| Radical Democratic Party (PDR) | 1,321,338 | 69.54 | 274 | +232 | |
| Federal Democratic Republican Party (PRDF) | 379,345 | 19.96 | 78 | +26 | |
| Conservative–Constitutional Coalition (C–C) | 120,543 | 6.34 | 14 | −222 | |
| Alfonsist Conservatives (A) | 36,325 | 1.91 | 9 | +9 | |
| Independent Republicans (R.IND) | 9,502 | 0.50 | 2 | +2 | |
| Liberal Reformist Party (PLR) | 9,463 | 0.50 | 14 | +10 | |
| Independent Carlists (CARL.IND)1 | 5,870 | 0.31 | 3 | −35 | |
| Liberal Conservative Party (PLC) | 1,292 | 0.07 | 1 | −10 | |
| Moderate Party (PM) | n/a | n/a | 0 | −11 | |
| Independents (INDEP) | 5,182 | 0.27 | 11 | −1 | |
| Others | 11,320 | 0.60 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Vacant | 18 | ±0 | |||
| Total | 1,900,180 | 424 | ±0 | ||
| Votes cast / turnout | 1,900,180 | ||||
| Abstentions | |||||
| Registered voters | |||||
| Sources | |||||
Footnotes:
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Bibliography
- Decreto electoral para Diputados a Cortes Constituyentes en las provincias de Cuba y Puerto Rico (PDF) (Decree). Madrid Gazette (in Spanish). 14 December 1868. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- Constitución del Estado (PDF) (Constitution). Madrid Gazette (in Spanish). 5 June 1869. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
- Ley Electoral (PDF) (Law). Madrid Gazette (in Spanish). 20 August 1870. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
- Ley fijando las excepciones al art. 12 de la electoral vigente, relativo a incompatibilidad del cargo de Diputado a Cortes (PDF) (Law). Madrid Gazette (in Spanish). 1 January 1871. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
- Ley mandando que los distritos para las elecciones de Diputados a Cortes sean los que se expresan en la división adjunta (PDF) (Law). Madrid Gazette (in Spanish). 1 January 1871. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
- Decreto mandando se verifiquen en Puerto Rico las elecciones ordinarias de Senadores y Diputados a Cortes (PDF) (Decree). Madrid Gazette (in Spanish). 1 April 1871. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
- López Domínguez, José María (1976). Elecciones y partidos políticos de Puerto Rico: 1809-1898 (PDF) (Thesis) (in Spanish). Vol. 1. Puerto Rico: Complutense University of Madrid. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- Ortega Álvarez, Luis; Santaolaya Machetti, Pablo (1996). "Evolución histórica del sistema electoral español". Revista de las Cortes Generales (in Spanish). 37. Cortes Generales: 65–107. doi:10.33426/rcg/1996/37/784. ISSN 0213-0130.
- BUCM (1997). CAPÍTULO 7. Las elecciones parciales... (PDF) (Thesis) (in Spanish). Complutense University of Madrid. pp. 355–617. Retrieved 21 September 2025.
- Roldán de Montaud, Inés (1999). "Política y elecciones en Cuba durante la restauración" (PDF). Revista de Estudios Políticos (in Spanish) (104): 245–287. Retrieved 19 December 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.
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