Second government of José Canalejas

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.^[1][2]

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.^[3] 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.^[4][5] 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.^[6]

Raising a matter of confidence to King Alfonso XIII under the royal prerogative, José Canalejas submitted his resignation and that of his cabinet on 1 January 1911, following the approval of that year's budget and of Canalejas's flagship bill—the "Padlock Law" (ley del candado) restricting the establishment of new religious orders during the next two years^[7]—seeking a renewal of the monarch's confidence and a cabinet reshuffle for the new political period.^[8][9][10]

Consultations King of Spain
Date	Consultee	Office/position	Party
1 January 1911	José Canalejas	Prime Minister Leader of the Liberal Party		Liberal
Nominations
Outcome →	Nomination of José Canalejas (Liberal) Accepted
Sources[8][11]

Alfonso XIII's reaffirmed his confidence in Canalejas without holding any further consultation, and the new cabinet was sworn in on 2 January,^[8][12][13] comprising members of the Liberal Party and one military officer and seeing changes in the Governance, Public Instruction and Development ministries.^[13][14][15] Canalejas's triggering of a cabinet crisis was widely seen as unjustified and unnecessary across the entire spectrum, both because the government enjoyed political and parliamentary stability, and because no minister was perceived as having suffered any resounding failure.^[16][17]

The Council of Ministers was structured into the office for the prime minister and eight ministries.^[13]