1916 Spanish general election

1916 Spanish general election

← 1914 9 April 1916 (Congress)[a] 23 April 1916 (Senate) 1918 →
All 409 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 180 (of 360) seats in the Senate 205 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies
First party Second party Third party   Leader Count of Romanones Eduardo Dato Antonio Maura Party Liberal–Democratic Conservative Maurist Leader since 1912 1913 1913 Leader's seat Guadalajara Vitoria Palma Last election 117 (C) · 53 (S)[b] 225 (C) · 95 (S) Did not contest Seats won 228 (C) · 112 (S) 90 (C) · 36 (S) 17 (C) · 5 (S) Seat change 111 (C) · 59 (S) 135 (C) · 59 (S) 17 (C) · 5 (S)   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Enric Prat de la Riba Melquíades Álvarez Roberto Castrovido Party Regionalist Reformist Republican–Socialist Leader since 1902 1912 1914 Leader's seat — Castropol Madrid Last election 13 (C) · 6 (S) 12 (C) · 3 (S) 13 (C) · 2 (S)[c] Seats won 13 (C) · 7 (S) 14 (C) · 2 (S) 13 (C) · 1 (S) Seat change 0 (C) · 1 (S) 2 (C) · 1 (S) 0 (C) · 1 (S)
Prime Minister before election Count of Romanones Liberal Prime Minister after election Count of Romanones Liberal

The 1916 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 9 April (for the Congress of Deputies)^[a] and on Sunday, 23 April 1916 (for the Senate), to elect the 16th Cortes of the Kingdom of Spain in the Restoration period. All 409 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 180 of 360 seats in the Senate.

The outbreak of World War I in 1914 had seen an expansion of industrial activity as demand rose among the warring powers for Spanish goods—a result of Prime Minister Eduardo Dato proclaiming Spain's neutrality in the war—but the inflow of capital produced inflation and a drop in imports, exacerbating the poverty of some areas in the country. Food riots resulting from the shortage of basic commodities (which came to be known in Spain as motines de subsistencias), coupled with political instability resulting from the Conservative Party's split between the dominant Datist and the minor Maurist and Ciervist factions, led to the downfall of Dato's government and to the appointment of the Count of Romanones by King Alfonso XIII.

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