Teacher in the Canary Islands beats a Deloitte senior

Teacher in the Canary Islands vs Deloitte senior: what the pay slips hide

The comparison has landed on household economics: a secondary school teacher with a post in the Canary Islands can live better than a Deloitte senior in Madrid. The cost of living is the great ally of this thesis. In Madrid, rent eats up the salary; in the Canary Islands, housing goes further. What's the point of earning more money if the landlord takes it all? Outside the M-30 ring road, life goes further.

The cost of living as the great equalizer

Those who argue that the Canary Island teacher comes out ahead don't do so out of kindness for the climate, but because of the numbers: housing prices, groceries and leisure leave more room in the islands. The irony of the consultant's "three-button suit" illustrates the clash of priorities: Madrid status has a price that doesn't show up on a payslip.

The fine print of teaching in the Canary Islands

The other side of the argument comes from those who remember the road to the post: tough civil service exams, endless substitute work, precarious conditions and a classroom that is sometimes a battlefield. In the Canary Islands, moreover, school dropout rates and educational needs are higher. And anyone wanting to make the jump should look to Castilla y León: teachers there are paid more than in the Canary Islands, with no island allowance, and rural housing is cheap.

No one has yet explained why, if the Canary Island teacher's life is so good, Deloitte consultants aren't queuing up for the civil service exams. Perhaps the suit weighs more than the cost of living.