Second government of Eugenio Montero Ríos

The Spanish Constitution of 1876 enshrined Spain as a semi-constitutional monarchy during the Restoration period, awarding the monarch—under the royal prerogative—the power to appoint government members (including the prime minister); the ability to grant or deny the decree of dissolution of the Cortes, or the adjournment of legislative sessions, to the incumbent or aspiring government that requested it; and the capacity to inform, inspect and ultimately control executive acts by granting or denying the signature of royal decrees; among others.^[6][7]

The monarch would play a key role in the turno system by appointing and dismissing governments, which would then organize elections to provide themselves with a parliamentary majority.^[8] As a result, governments during this period were dependent on royal confidence, which was frequently secured or lost based on the leaders' ability to guarantee the internal unity and parliamentary cohesion of their parties.^[9][10] In practice, the royal prerogative was not exercised freely by the monarch, but was carried out through the opening of a round of consultations—with the presidents of the chambers, the leaders of the main parties, the potential candidates and other notable figures—prior to government formation, or when prime ministers raised a matter of confidence to the monarch.^[11]

King Alfonso XIII held a round of consultations on 28 October 1905 to determine a solution to the political crisis arising from Montero Ríos's resignation.^[12][13][14]

Consultations King of Spain
Date	Consultee	Office/position	Party
28 October 1905	José López Domínguez	President of the Senate		Military
	Marquis of Vega de Armijo	President of the Congress of Deputies		Lib–Dem/Dem
	Segismundo Moret	Leader of the Liberal Party (former)		Lib–Dem/Lib
	Eugenio Montero Ríos	Prime Minister Leader of the Liberal Party		Lib–Dem/Dem
Nominations
Outcome →	Nomination of Eugenio Montero Ríos (Liberal) Accepted
Sources[12][13][14]

The outcome of the consultations led Alfonso XIII to entrust the formation of a new government to Eugenio Montero Ríos, who accepted the nomination.^[15]

The Council of Ministers was structured into the office for the prime minister and eight ministries.^[4]