This paper presents a spatial catenary cable element for the nonlinear analysis of cable-supported structures. An incremental-iterative solution based on the Newton-Raphson method is adopted for solving the equilibrium equation. As a result, the element stiffness matrix and nodal forces are determined, wherein the effect of self-weight and pretension are taken into account. In the case of the initial cable tension is given, an algorithm for form-finding of cable-supported structures is proposed to determine precisely the unstressed length of the cables. Several classical numerical examples are solved and compared with the other available numerical methods or experiment tests showing the accuracy and efficiency of the present elements.