If one wanted to retire to an area with a Mediteranean or warm
climate, where there are at lease pockets of english speakers, one
areas would be available.

Malta, for example?

There are English-speaking (ie British) expatriates all over the
Mediterranean coastal area, often in large concentrations. (This is in
addition to the influx of British tourists to those areas from Spring
to Autumn each year.) Some of the most popular ex-pat areas are the
French Riviera, the Costa del Sol (ie Southern coast) of Spain, the
Algarve area (South) of Portugal, and the area round Chania in Crete.