Catalan separatists Monday threatened "mass civil disobedience" against the Spanish government if it fulfils its vow to depose the region's secessionist leader to stifle his drive for independence.
Firefighters, teachers and students weighed into the dispute, warning of strikes and protests, at the start of a crucial week in Spain's deepest political crisis in decades.
Madrid has said it will suspend the powers of the semi-autonomous region, where separatist leaders held a banned independence referendum on October 1.
Catalonia's separatist parties announced they would hold a full session Thursday to decide their response.
That could be an opportunity for the region to follow through on threats to declare unilateral independence from Spain, a prospect that has raised fears of unrest.
The Senate is set to suspend the territory's limited self-rule in a meeting expected Friday.
Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said Catalan President Carles Puigdemont will be out of a job as soon as this weekend.
"He will no longer be able to sign anything, he will no longer be able to take decisions, he will no longer receive a salary," Saenz de Santamaria told radio Onda Cero.
'Institutional violence'
The far-left Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), which backs Puigdemont's coalition, said Madrid's post-referendum clampdown was the "biggest assault" against the Catalan people since the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.
Franco, who ruled from 1939 until 1975, suppressed Catalonia's autonomy, language and culture.
Lluis Corominas, spokesman of the Together for Yes ruling coalition, meanwhile urged a "peaceful and democratic defence of Catalan institutions".
He branded the Spanish response to the independence drive "a case of unprecedented institutional violence."
Forceful takeover?
Under Article 155 of the 1978 Spanish constitution, Madrid could take control of the Catalan police force and replace the heads of its public broadcaster.
Political analysts warn that Madrid faces a serious struggle in practical terms to impose control over the region, especially if civil servants refuse to obey orders from central authorities.
Xavier Arbos Marin, a constitutional law professor at the University of Barcelona, raised the prospect of the government trying to "take them out by force".
Until now, Catalonia controlled its own policing, education and healthcare, but discontent has grown in recent years of economic crisis. Separatists are demanding greater control for the region over its finances.
The region of 7.5 million people is protective of its culture, language and autonomy, though polls indicate its inhabitants are divided on whether to break away from Spain.