Mariano Rajoy took the decision as part of emergency measures in response to Catalan MPs voting to declare independence from Spain.
He said he would seek to declare the vote illegal.
Mr Rajoy also said Catalonia's police chief will be sacked and central government departments will assume the powers of the Catalan administration.
The Spanish government is shutting down Catalonia's foreign affairs department and dismissing its delegates in Brussels and Madrid.
He said it is important to call fresh elections to ensure "nobody can act outside the law", but added "we never wanted to come to this point".
He said the aim was to return Catalonia to "normality and legality" as soon as possible.
The move will increase tensions with separatists who celebrated in their thousands outside the Catalan government palace after the declaration was made.
They watched events inside from two giant screens as they clapped and shouted "independence" in Catalan.
The motion, which was boycotted by opposition parties, said Catalonia was an independent, sovereign and social democratic state, and called on other countries and institutions to recognise it.
However, after the announcement from the Catalan parliament, Mr Rajoy hinted that their celebrations would be short-lived by saying they had done "something that is not possible - declare independence".
The supporters who had gathered in Sant Jaume Square in Barcelona to hear the Catalan declaration were told of Mr Rajoy's decision to sack the region's parliament.
A band took to the stage and the crowd defiantly began singing and dancing to music, shouting: "We are not moving.
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