Spain v Hong Kong

Barcelona is a great city,it is truly an international city.Whilst doing the Celta I taught Spanish,Catalans,Argentinians,Brazilians,Russians,Chileans,Ecuadorians,Lithuanians,Poles and a Japanese. The teachers I met whilst there were really nice too.The people are remarkably friendly, genuine and open-very refreshing. Barcelona is a great environment for kids,but..... The money doesn't quite add up.International House pretty much offered us all the chance to work with them either in Spain or elsewhere. After tax etc, a full time teacher can expect to bring home about 1000 Euros or £750 per month.This is at a top respected school. Rent starts from about 600 euros per month, and the cost of living is the same,or more than London(and much more than Hong Kong). For me, this is not a viable option. Barcelona also has an endemic street theft problem, although street violence is seldom heard of. The money part puzzles me, as local people don't appear to be as downtrodden as people in the UK. Possibly this imbalance will change in future years, I would like the idea of spending a couple of years there with the kids, to teach them how to chill out, and appreciate life the Spanish/Catalan way.