He was born in Cádiz on 2 June 1833. His mother's family, the Prendergasts, were of Irish descent. He studied at the Universidad Central in Madrid where in 1858 he became professor of political economy, continuing at the same time his studies in jurisprudence. In 1863 he was elected representative to parliament as an independent representing the town of Almadén in the province of Ciudad Real. He was reelected in 1868 after the Revolution of 1868 and he took part in the writing of the new Spanish Constitution of 1869. He was noted for his eloquence. As Minister of Overseas Colonies in the government presided by General Prim in 1870 he pushed for the abolition of slavery and the creation of a constitution for Puerto Rico. In 1871 he was Minister of the Treasury in the first government of King Amadeo I and in 1872 he was appointed ambassador in London but resigned after some months and accepted a directorship in a large British bank. With the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty to the Spanish throne in 1875 he returned to Spain where he founded the Partido Democrático-Monárquico party. He was again elected deputy for Ciudad Real in 1879, rallied to the monarchy in 1882. In 1883 he was appointed Minister of the Interior and after 1885 he joined the Liberal Party in which he cooperated with Práxedes Mateo Sagasta as Minister of State, Interior, Development , State and Overseas Colonies. When Sagasta died he participated in the quarrels for the control of the party. In 1897 as Minister for Overseas Colonies he decreed the autonomy for Cuba and Puerto Rico in a vain attempt to avoid their secession. He opposed the war with the United States in 1898. In 1902 he collaborated in the creation of the Institute of Social Reform which was a precursor of the future Ministry of Labor. In 1905, after the resignation of Montero Rios he became prime minister but he was forced to resign in July 1906 when he lost the majority in the parliament although he became again prime minister for a brief period of the same year. After the bloody confrontations of the "Tragic Week" in 1909 in Barcelona he was again appointed prime minister after the resignation of Antonio Maura while he was also Minister of the Interior. He was forced to resign in February 1910 when he was replaced by José Canalejas. He denounced the Canalejas Ministry as 'a democratic flag being used to cover reactionary merchandise'. In 1912 Canalejas was murdered and the new prime minister, Álvaro Figueroa Torres, Count of Romanones, appointed him as president of the House of Representatives which he was until his death on 28 January 1913.
