Note (Back) — Chapter XXXIII

The conditions under which the quota of 180 elected senators are chosen were defined by a statute of February 8, 1877. One senator is chosen by the clergy in each of the nine archbishoprics; one by each of the six royal academies; one by each of the ten universities; five by the economic societies; and the remaining 150 by electoral colleges in the several provinces. The electoral college is composed of members of the provincial deputations and of representatives chosen from among the municipal councillors and largest taxpayers of the towns and municipal districts. But no one may become a senator by election who would be ineligible, under the conditions above mentioned, to be appointed to a seat by the crown. And it is required in all cases that to become a senator one must be a Spaniard, must have attained the age of thirty-five, must have the free management of his property, and must not have been subjected to criminal proceedings, nor have been deprived of the exercise of his political rights. The term of elected senators is ten years. One-half of the number is renewed every five years; but upon a dissolution of the elected portion of the chamber by the crown, the quota is renewed integrally.[856]