Objective: To review and update epidemiological data on type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Spain and four Latin American countries: Colombia, Mexico, Chile, and Argentina. Methods: Literature was reviewed by a search of PubMed, publications of the Ministry of Health, World Health Organization, International Diabetes Federation, and other public health agencies of each respective country. Results: Of the five countries above, Mexico (13.6%) had the highest prevalence of diabetes, followed by Spain (10.4%). Within these countries, significant differences between urban and rural areas were observed (7.8% and 1.4%, respectively). Diabetes consumes between 7% and 15% of the total expenditure of these countries' national health budgets. Mortality due to this disease has been reduced in different countries, demonstrating the success of measures taken to control this situation. Conclusion: The literature shows that despite different eating habits and environments, Spain and these Latin American countries share a comparable magnitude of the T2D problem. Therefore, it might be worthwhile to implement similar effective educational programmes to solve it.