Hundreds of dancers gathered in Barcelona on Monday to protest virus restrictions that have closed dance school across the northeast region of Spain.

Wearing black attire, the flamenco, salsa, ballet, tap and even hip-hop dancers sat on the square in front of the Catalan regional government building and broke out into different dances demanding that they be allowed to teach and practice again.

"We hope authorities can see that dancing is healthy and it is what people need," said José Luís Vivar Vargas who teaches salsa and bachata.

The Catalan regional government palace had already been the target of another protest against virus restrictions the day before when protesters from the restaurant sector threw red paint onto its historic facade to symbolise the economic loss of blood.

Spain has been under a state of emergency since last month following a surge of COVID-19 cases across the territory.

On Monday some Spanish regions were tightening their restrictions on movement even more, as the national government waits to see whether its measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 are working before taking further steps.

Catalonia extended its night-time curfew and closure of bars, restaurants and other establishments for another two weeks.