The former Security minister said the Rajoy Government would have no qualms removing Catalonia officials from their posts to ensure the return of the rule of law in the region.
Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 Programme, Mr Martines Vazquez said: “The Madrid Government, supported by the most important constitutional parties – which is more than 70 per cent of the national parliament – is trying to recover the respect of the law.
“In that way, they should, or they might, replace some of the officials and the regional members of the government which are acting against the law and just remove them so the law is protected.
“When normal life comes back, we’ll call for elections and have a new government in a democratic way.”
The statement from Mr Martines Vazquez comes after similar proposals from Inigo Mendez de Vigo, a Government spokesperson and Education minister, warning that authorities will be brought in if the region continues with its struggle for independence.
He said: “No government wants any acts of violence but the government has to make sure that the law is obeyed and if there are people on the other side who do not want to obey the law, then, through the Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalan police), we will have to restore the law.
“The government is not suspending the autonomy. What we are doing is restoring the autonomy.”
The Catalonia regional government, based in Barcelona, said it was confident officials, including the police, would ignore attempts to enforce direct rule on the semi-autonomous region.
Any refusal to carry out the wishes of Madrid could lead to unrest in the region, which as hinted at civil disobedience towards the Spanish government as it continues to crack down on Catalonia over its independence referendum carried out on October 1.
Despite a decision by the Spanish Constitutional Court ruling the vote illegal, Catalonia went ahead sparking a brutal reaction from the Spanish police that saw more than 800 people injured.
Catalan authorities said about 90 per cent of those who took part in the referendum voted for independence.
But only 43 per cent of the electorate and one in three Catalans participated, with most opponents of secession staying at home.