A year later, Alfonso Xll Bourbon, son of Isabel ll, was restored to the throne. In this period the Constitution of 1876 was one before, and a new system of government allowed alternating of the two main political parties, the conservatives, led by Cánovas del Castillo, and the Liberals, led by Sagasta. The restoration lasted after the death of the king. His wife, Maria Cristina of Habsburg, ruled has regent because her son Alfonso Xll, the heir, was still a baby. During her regency, Spain lost its last colonies: Cuba and the Philippines.