The Spanish former Espanyol and Al-Rayyan conditioning coach joins the Warriors as a replacement for Mario Marinica, who resigned from the job after just five months.
Catala, who most recently worked as assistant manager at Qatar Stars League club Al-Sailiya SC, takes over from caretaker coach Kaitano Tembo, who was overlooked for the post.
Tembo has instead been appointed head coach of the men’s Under-20 team.
Catala will be assisted by fellow Spaniards Marc Sanchez and Vicente Girona Izquierdo.
This move comes with a complete overhaul of the country's international coaching structure, as part of a number of "sweeping set of appointments across Zimbabwe’s men’s and women’s national teams...aimed at building a unified football system from Under-15 level to the Warriors and Mighty Warriors," say ZimLive.
"Today is not simply about announcing coaches. It is about announcing a new technical direction for Zimbabwean football,” added the Zimbabwe Football Association.
"For too long, our national teams have largely operated as separate entities – appointed at different times, prepared for individual competitions and often without enough connection from one age group to the next. We are changing that.
"Our pathway is clear: U15 identifies. U17 develops. U20 prepares. U23 transitions. The senior team performs.
“We are not trying to turn Zimbabwe into Spain. We want to combine Zimbabwean talent with world-class methodology and build a distinctly Zimbabwean football identity.”
