Indirect presidential elections were held in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

on 26 April and 10 May 1936. In the first stage, 473 electors were elected; in the second, the 473 electors convened in an Electoral College with the 473 members of the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...

in order to elect the President of the Spanish Republic, as required by Article 68 of the

Spanish Constitution of 1931 The Spanish Constitution of 1931 was approved by the Constituent Assembly on 9 December 1931. It was the constitution of the Second Spanish Republic (founded 14 April 1931) and was in force until 1 April 1939. This was the second period of Spanis ...

Background

The elections were called after President Niceto Alcalá Zamora was dismissed by Congress due to irregularities in the dissolution of the House in 1936, which was declared ‘unjustified’. This move was seen as personal revenge by the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

against Alcalá Zamora, who had called for a general election at an unfavorable time for the left, and while the right was more cautious about carrying out the dismissal process, calling for a constitutional review by the Court of Constitutional Guarantees, it also supported the decision.

Results

Turnout was low, failing to reach 40 percent. This was due to the main opposition party, the right-wing

CEDA The Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas (, CEDA), was a Spanish political party in the Second Spanish Republic. A Catholic conservative force, it was the political heir to Ángel Herrera Oria's Acción Popular and defined itself in te ...

, boycotting the process, a decision which was widely criticized, to no avail. The Popular Front did contest the elections, nominating

Manuel Azaña Manuel Azaña Díaz (; 10 January 1880 – 3 November 1940) was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1933 and 1936), organizer of the Popular Front in 1935 and the last President of the Repu ...

as its presidential candidate on April 30, as well as minor right-wing parties in different provinces. There are no official results from the elections, but accounts from contemporary newspapers give a figure of 393–394 electors affiliated with the Popular Front, with the opposition (Republican conservatives, Radicals, nationalists, Agrarians, independents, an insignificant figure of members of the CEDA and unaffiliated electors) winning 79–80 electoral votes; the left won at least in 28

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

, whereas the opposition carried 4 of them. The Electoral College met at the

Palacio de Cristal The Palacio de Cristal ("Glass Palace") is a conservatory located in the Buen Retiro Park in Madrid, Spain. The Palacio de Cristal, in the shape of a Greek cross, is made almost entirely of glass set in an iron framework on a brick base, which ...

of the

Parque del Retiro Parque del Retiro (English: Retirement Park) is the only senior citizens-oriented passive park in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is located in barrio Canas Urbano. The park commemorated its 30th anniversary on 11 February 2010. It has a "steady atten ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

on Sunday, May 10, 1936. With 847 members out of 911 present, Azaña was elected with 754 votes (from the Popular Front, Republican Conservatives, Radicals, Centrists and nationalists), and therefore became the new President of the Spanish Republic. He took the

oath of office An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such ...

the following day, and after tense negotiations, Galician regionalist politician

Santiago Casares Quiroga Santiago Casares y Quiroga (8 May 1884, in A Coruña, Galicia – 17 February 1950, in Paris) was Prime Minister of Spain from 13 May to 19 July 1936. Biography Leader and founder of the Autonomous Galician Republican Organization (ORGA), a Ga ...

became the new Prime Minister. {{Spanish elections

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

1936 elections in Spain Presidential elections