How about Malta, anyone?
They speak English. It used to belong to the Brits and only gained independence in 1964, and is now a member of the EU. I happened to read about their welcoming retirees, and so did spend some time to check it out. The financial requirements are reasonable. The Maltese are nice friendly people, and they have a very low crime rate. It appears quite a few Britons retire there. The cost of living appears to be not too bad, compared to mainland Europe.
The drawback is being on such a small island may give one a bad case of island fever. I entertained the idea of using it as a home base for a year or two to explore other places in the Mediterranean. It turned out that, with Malta being such a small nation, there are few direct flights to/from it. An trip from Malta to Sicily means several hours in Rome waiting for a connection. Boats are faster?
Having two houses and family roots in my home state, I have found it difficult to move to the Puget Sound, leave alone going to a new country. Thought I would bring it up for people to research it as a pipe dream, if nothing else.
It is definitely a place for me to visit, but I am still working on combining it with some other places in one itinerary (Sicily, Sardinia, or Corsica?)
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