[wrholt]

I would agree that vowels are more prominent in distinguishing regional accents in English than in Spanish, and that Spanish vowels* are fairly consistent accross regional varieties compared to English.

However, like poli, I think that both vowels and consonants affect how we perceive regional differences in pronunciation in English, especially variations in pronouncing /r/ at the end of syllables (typically described as rhotic or non-rhotic varieties) and their effect on the preceding vowel. A few other consonants vary significantly in some regional varieties, too.