If we assume the 30 euros a day was an average over the month, not the amount earned each work day, it's not all that different (30*30=900). Within 10% of what you stated at least.

True, but I was more focused on the fact that I earned that sum as a PhD, so one step below the seniority ladder. To earn exactly the same sum as a postdoc is just a crazy thing, and I'm glad I left to do my postdoc in the US.

anecdotally, I work with a lot of Italians and they tell me the salary for developers in Italy is around 2k per month, though that still seems really low for a western country to me.

In Spain, typical entry levels range from 18k€ to 25k€, so about 1200€/month, 14 payments, net of taxes (in Spain, as in other countries, the yearly tax you will pay is estimated and pre-taxed, and at the end of the year recalculated so the difference is adjusted paying more or returning to the contributor)