He was elected a Congressman at Spain's Cortes Generales (Congress of Deputies) for Palma de Mallorca in 1881, which he would represent until 1923 in successive legislatures.

His political career was marked by rapid advancements, including an initial appointment as a Vice-president of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation from 1882 to 1884, and later as Vice President of the Congress of Deputies in 1886.

His political influence expanded significantly when he rejected a ministerial position in a Sagastino cabinet in 1888, only to accept the role of Minister of Overseas Territories under President Práxedes Mateo Sagasta from December 1892 to March 1894.

Maura was a hero of a youth movement, the Mauristas, that wanted him as a new head of state of Spain at a time of substantial resentment of King Alfonso XIII.

He was also elected to the Moral and Political Sciences Academy, and the Fine Arts of San Fernando, in recognition of his gifts as a watercolorist.