The construction standards in Yucatan are improving. I kid about this all the time. You can get a Mexican person three blocks away from you and ask him to build your house. They are the most genuine people that you have ever seen. They can do everything and their work ethic is incredible but their work doesn’t have a great deal of standards, although now, we are now seeing some standards. 
The best advice I can give about living overseas or retiring abroad is, if you want things to be like the way they are at home, then do not leave home. 
so for me, being close to the sea is a big part of living and retiring in Ambergris Caye. I like being able to get in a boat pretty much 350 days a year and drive around inside the reef where it is protected from really inclement weather, big waves, etc. So you could always find a place to go on a boat. That is an important factor for a lot of people here because In general people are buying smaller properties or smaller homes or smaller condos and this...
There are some absolutely beautiful islands in the Algarve near the border of Spain. To go there, you have to take a 40-minute boat ride. There are about six islands there. Only one of those six is deserted. 
The apartments in Panama City are expensive. The amount I pay to rent an apartment in Spain can only afford me to rent a room in Panama City. I am renting a room in an apartment and it costs US $500 per month but the good thing about it is that I am living in a nice neighborhood and the apartment building is close to transportation, the groceries, and other shops. Casco Viejo, "the Old City of Panama"
Casco Viejo, or “the Old City of Panama” .jpg)
is the historic city center of Panama. It is a peaceful and charming district of narrow streets, accompanied by balconies full of the flowers of two and three-story houses. At its end is the French Park, a monument to the French builders who began construction of the Panama Canal, and the beautiful French Embassy, pictured here.
On the boulevard around the monument, visitors have a good view of Mirador Amador and the Bridge of the...
is the historic city center of Panama. It is a peaceful and charming district of narrow streets, accompanied by balconies full of the flowers of two and three-story houses. At its end is the French Park, a monument to the French builders who began construction of the Panama Canal, and the beautiful French Embassy, pictured here.On the boulevard around the monument, visitors have a good view of Mirador Amador and the Bridge of the...
Many people have this idea that Panama is a backward place with grinding poverty, poor infrastructure, political instability and lots of risk for investors. In fact, while there is poverty there in relative terms, the people are happy, relaxed, friendly and open. Much of the country is pretty much like parts of California or the American south, and was so, long before swarms of gringos arrived at the start of the current economic boom.