Barca/Real have both won 20 games. They've played 26. Chelsea and City have played 27/28 and have won 19/17. Also compare the players at Newcastle/WestHam/Everton to Celta/Rayo and Espanyol. There's a huge difference in stature. Admittedly that's because the Spanish teams have more Spanish players than the English ones do English players but you would expect most of the teams from England I named's players, to be picked over the ones in the Spanish teams bar maybe 6. Barca and Real are on another level I admit but without them the league would be almost nothing. Remove Chelski/City and you still have huge names like Liverpool/Everton/ManUnited (especially)/Tottenham/Arsenal. I think the biggest difference however is that the BBVA is made by the players in it rather than the teams. Without Messi/Ronaldo the BBVA falls behind easily, there isn't the same support behind the other rivalries. Everton/Liverpool is a big thing in some countries, same with Arsenal/Tottenham and Manshitty/Manure.
I do watch BBVA and I would say it does compete with PL very closely, which is more than can be said about some other European League (no hate pls Sven).