The STANDARD of living in Madrid is probably very very similar to the standard of living in Paris. The COST of living in Madrid is probably just a little less than in Paris. But the SALARIES in Madrid (or Spain) are certainly MUCH MUCH LOWER than in Paris/France.
There's a huge disparity these years concerning the cost of living (and the price of houses) and the salaries offered. MUCH has been debated on this topic, demonstrations, strikes, etcetera but the fact remains that the salaries are medievally low here in Spain.
I think that many factory workers in France (or in the USA) make more money than medical doctors here in Spain - just to give you an idea. Doctors don't live fancy lives here. And more and more Spanish doctors are leaving Spain for higher salaries elsewhere. Surgeons and Specialists, however, do live much better.
But the salaries in Spain appear low to you in your field - and I'm sure they are. So many times people from the UK or USA email me saying they'd love to move to Spain. But upon finding out how much a similar job here pays they most often change their minds because it's (nearly) HALF of what they were making in their home countries.
For job offers/salaries uou could look into
http://www.Monster.es - the only site which comes to mind. I'm not familiar with standard of living comparisons, however.
Best of luck! It'd be great to have you back in Spain.
Saludos, MadridMan
_________________________
Visit BarcelonaMan.com for Barcelona information, Transportation, Lodging, & much MUCH more!
Curious about what could POSSIBLY be inside the brain of MadridMan? Visit
MadridMan's Madrid Blog