1898 Spanish general election

1898 Spanish general election

27 March 1898 (Congress)
10 April 1898 (Senate)

All 447 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate
224 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Francisco Silvela Nicolás Salmerón
Party Liberal Conservative (Silvelist) Republican
Leader since 1880 1892 1898
Leader's seat Logroño Piedrahíta Gracia
Last election 111 (C) · 43 (S) 12 (C) · 2 (S) 4 (C) · 3 (S)
Seats won 324 (C) · 122 (S) 79 (C) · 36 (S) 15 (C) · 1 (S)
Seat change 213 (C) · 79 (S) 65 (C) · 34 (S) 11 (C) · 2 (S)

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Carlos O'Donnell Francisco Romero Robledo Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa
Party Tetuanist Liberal Reformist Carlist
Leader since 1898 1898 1891
Leader's seat Senator (for life) Antequera
Last election 307 (C) · 118 (S) Did not contest 10 (C) · 2 (S)
Seats won 7 (C) · 7 (S) 6 (C) · 1 (S) 6 (C) · 0 (S)
Seat change 300 (C) · 111 (S) 6 (C) · 1 (S) 4 (C) · 2 (S)

Election results by constituency (Congress)

Prime Minister before election

Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
Liberal

Prime Minister after election

Práxedes Mateo Sagasta
Liberal

A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 27 March (for the Congress of Deputies) and on Sunday, 10 April 1898 (for the Senate), to elect the members of the 8th Restoration Cortes. All 445 seats in the Congress of Deputies (plus two special districts) were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.

The election was called amid a period of political unstability following the assassination of previous prime minister Antonio Cánovas del Castillo on 8 August 1897 by Italian anarchist Michele Angiolillo and the brief premiership of Marcelo Azcárraga. Respecting the turno system, Queen Regent Maria Christina appointed a new government under Liberal leader Práxedes Mateo Sagasta on 4 October 1897, tasking them with the formation of a new majority. In the wake of Cánovas's death, the Conservative Party was left in disarray, split between Francisco Silvela's Conservative Union, a faction led by Duke of Tetuán Carlos O'Donnell and Francisco Romero Robledo's re-established Liberal Reformist Party. The result of the election was a Liberal majority in both chambers.

This would be the last Spanish general election to be held in Cuba and Puerto Rico, as the Spanish–American War, which would start only a few weeks after the election, would lead to the loss of all Spanish colonies in the Caribbean and the Pacific.