Well, If you earn 22000, you don't get 1500 euros a month.

You'd get this if you didn't have any discount. I have about one third of my salary off with taxes, social security monthly rates (it's another tax, after all), and private pension.

If you got the same you'd get 1000 euros. Not so nice, hah?

And it depends where you owrk, for in Madrid, with 1000 euros a month you can live but you'd have to economize a lot. Just transport and housing would take most of that money, esating at home and going out few would be necessary. Saving would be almost impossible, you'd have the two extra pays of 1500 (1000) euros in summer and Christmas, that you would use for holidays and car insurance or other anual expenses.

Of course you can live sharing for 300 €. That's a reasonable price for MAdrid, and even for a little less if you look hard an lose some comfort, but you decrease your quality of life same as coming in public transport can make you spend 1.30 hours instead of 30 minutes sometimes each way to work, and this is VERY important, as much as living in a 5th floor without lift or using electric (a pure sh*t) heating, or...

South American inmigrants live sometimes 10 or 15 in a 3 rooms home, but I guess Simo would prefer not do so.

About renting apartments--
Yes, that's what I meant--by American standards renting an apartment in Madrid is really not that bad here. A lot of Americans say that rent is expensive in Madrid, but they usually aren't comparing to a comparable big city in the US.

Where I lived in the US--twelve years in Washington, DC--living in the central part of the city is only for the very well off or people who can pay a very, very high percentage of their income on rent. A two bedroom apartment in a central location could never be found for under $2000 a month (unless you had a rent controlled place for a long time). Four bedroom places rent out for $3000+! People spend $700 to rent one room in a group house. Granted, people in DC tend to make a lot more money than they do in other parts of the US.

That's why most big American cities have a huge sprawl of cheaper housing in the ex-urbs (the part that is even further than the suburbs).

We couldn't afford to rent in DC anymore, so we bought a house five years ago in a really undesirable neighborhood.

Within a year or two, the rents started skyrocketing there, too. People were soon spending more on a studio apartment than we spent on our whole mortgage. Even with the horrendous exchange rate, I'm now able to rent my place out in DC, pay my mortgage there, and pay my rent here in a much better and more central area--pretty crazy (and lucky for me)!

Yes, that's what I meant. That's the exchange rate game.

It depends what Simos standard of living is at the moment.In Madrid he will either have to share a place or live in a one room studio or he will have to commute from outside the city which will make his long working day even longer still. Factor this into your calculations,Simo.
Another thing, which I dont like to mention but the fact you are Moroccan. Some madrilenos have a pretty rascist attitude to their North African neighbours, so dont always expect a welcoming landlord.

But the exchange rate is working against me, not for me. Still it is much more affordable for me to live here (the equivalent of $1200 in rent vs. the $2000+++ that it would cost in the US).

Steven and Simo:

That's true. I have latino friends who have had problems hiring flats because of their origin, but that's due to the popular belief that they don't pay the rent many times and give many problems.

But this is not a racist attitude most times, it's based on own or known experience.

If you have a good appeareance and look well, you'll have much less problems, and as soon as you pay your first rents in time, any doubt will dissapear and you'll be fine.

Of course, sharing a flat would be less problematic for this.

Another matter is that, after 11-M some people distrust morocchians more. Most 11-M bombers were morocchians and the ones who have recenty been investigated because they supposedly were going to bomb other places are too. That's another difficulty, for nobody wants to host a future terrorist. Unfair for the rest, I know.

Mariposita:

Yes. I meant the effect that makes that (because of the prices you mention in the USA) you find our housing cheap whereas for us is extremely high.

COnsidering that most USA prices are 2 or 3 times the spanish ones, the dollar should be 1/2 or 1/3 of an euro for the reasonable comparison could be done. Of course, I hope this won't ever happen, or we would go to the ruin directly through exchange balance deficit, and loss of competivity.

Well , this conversation starts being very interesting and very informative to me.. thanks Guys for all your posts..
The option that looks the most appropriate to me is to live in the suburbs. Since I m bringing my wife with me , we can t share an appartment and we would need something more spacy than a studio..
Ignacio , steven, you re absolutely right to bring up this problem related to my origin, and i m concious that i will have to bear this problem if i would have to live there. I fully understand the feeling that madrilenos can have towards morrocans/ north africans after the events.. unfortunately , a bunch of Lousy people who happen to be from my country have done this crappy things and our reputation went bad.. but i want to ask you guys : (i don t know if we can discuss about it here or shall we create a new topic for this) , to what extend my status can jeopardize my life in madrid ?, I mean my wife and I are very open-minded people who like to have many friends, go partying.. Can we ,for example, be stopped at a Dicotheque door ? or be rejected in a retaurant ? would that be so diffucult for us to make friends ? In summary , will we have a chance to have a decent social life , and would people give us a chance to know more about us ?

About suburbs, there are cheaper suburbs (souther zone), suburbs that are about the same price (northern zone), and very expensive/expensive suburbs like La Moraleja, Pozuelo, ...

Living out of Madrid and working in Madrid will have an effect in your quality of life. SOme of these places are well communicated, but some are not. Using your own car can make your way home half an hour or one hour and a half depending on traffic, specially in the southern, cheaper areas.

You'd have to use public transport, and you could have a good link or a bad one. For example, maybe you'd have to use both Metrosur and then Metro or train and then Metro or Bus.

There is open minded and closed minded people, but even open minded are conservative regarding their flats, because, as a general rule, spaniards and the rest of UE europeans pay in time and pay always, whereas people from other origins sometimes give problems of not paying, or not paying in time, or even damaging the flat.

In cheap suburbs you'll find both kind of owners, people who is more accustomed to inmigrants and people who has had bad experienced and don't want to have anything to do with them.

I suppose you don't speak spanish, or at least not much. This way, it will be a great help for you that in southern Madrid dormitory towns (Leganés, Móstoles, Alcorcoón, Fuenlabrada, Getafe, ...) there will always be a small or abundant colony of morocchians.

About spaniards, you may be treated with prevention at first, however, being a cultivated and/or nice person, you'll soon be treated right by most. I believe we have prejudices as anybody else (prejudices have a function), but most of us are smart enough to use them only as a first approach and then we make our own opinion on the person.

For example, I have an Iranian friend, and he is absolutely integrated in his middle class community nowadays, although I don't know how it was when he came to Madrid.

You won't be rejected at restaurants, and it would be unprobable you'd be at discos. And still, even we spaniards are rejected sometimes if they don't like the way we look (excuses are : private party, only for club members, clothing not appropiate, ...).

If you are an immigrant, you will be accepted more in the capital city than in a small town. Thats true I think whether it be in Madrid, London, Paris etc.
Simo wont get turned away from bars and restaurants because he is a customer with money in his pocket.
As for racism/prejudice/bigotry/nationalism however you define it. Spanish people wont hold back in their opinion and will tell you to your face.And the people of Madrid can be harder than most. They consider themselves superior to everyone, not just negros, sudacos, moros, guiris - they have names for us all and are not afraid or ashamed to use them!
See the latest football report on the England/Spain match - I appreciate this is probably a whole new subject!

Well, we ARE direct and frank, and do not avoid expressions like "black man" or "northern african", cause they are not insults but definitions, and we are free from d*mned PC. But that doesn't mean we're hostile.

In fact, I believe that we're much more warm towards foreigners than hipocritycal PC countries that call you MR Black Person or MR Brown Person and behind your back they call you rubbish.