Vicente Vallés took advantage of his appearance on El Hormiguero to focus on one of the most controversial parliamentary maneuvers of the moment: invoking the Permanent Deputation to push through housing decrees that had already been rejected by the Congress plenary. The host of Antena 3 Noticias 2 described the procedure as a “political trick” and declined to comment on whether it could be illegal.
The journalist’s critique rested on a direct comparison between the two bodies. While the Congress plenary gathers all 350 deputies, the Permanent Deputation is a much smaller body, composed of around 68 parliamentarians, that maintains the Chamber’s activity when it is not meeting or when it is dissolved.
What Vallés Questions About the Use of the Permanent Deputation
The journalist’s argument did not hinge on the formal legality of the procedure so much as on its political meaning. In his view, it seems incongruous that a measure rejected by the entire Congress could end up being approved through a body that represents a far smaller portion of the Chamber.
The Permanent Deputation is not a mechanism created specifically to bypass parliamentary votes. Its function is to guarantee institutional continuity during periods when the plenary cannot meet, although the debate about its powers takes on a special dimension when it is used to process decisions with major social impact.
That is where the central, open question lies: not only what tools the rules permit, but what political reading arises from using them after the plenary has rejected an initiative. Vallés preferred not to publicly resolve the legal debate, but he did question the political legitimacy of the maneuver.
Housing Will Not Have an Immediate Solution
The journalist also distanced himself from promises of quick results on housing. During the conversation, he noted that the problem cannot be solved in a year and pointed to building more homes as one of the inevitable ways to increase supply.
This approach marks an important difference between measures with immediate effects and structural policies. Some decisions can rapidly alter market conditions, but that does not necessarily mean their consequences are positive for all citizens or that they resolve the imbalance between supply and demand.
Vallés’ intervention came at a moment when housing has become one of the main axes of political debate. His comment shifts the focus from parliamentary confrontation to a question harder to solve: which measures can ease the short-term situation and which require years to yield results.
Elections, Debates and a Campaign That Has Already Begun
The conversation also addressed the possibility of an early election and the approach of the days leading up to November 29. Vallés argued that Spain has practically been in campaign mode for almost a year, a situation that, he explained, forces media professionals to adapt quickly to political changes.
The host argued that parties should reach agreements to hold the electoral debates proposed by various outlets, including Atresmedia. When Pablo Motos raised the possibility that he himself might serve as moderator, Vallés answered with humor, though he did not rule out that responsibility could ultimately fall on him.
His remark also reflects one of the usual tensions of campaigns: the media demand debates and parties negotiate their terms, while the journalists who could moderate them are tied to covering the very parties that they must question.
The Warning About Postal Voting
Vallés was especially critical of the doubts raised about the postal voting system by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, Santiago Abascal, and Alberto Núñez Feijóo. The journalist argued that questioning an electoral procedure requires providing evidence, because an insinuation without proof can spread rapidly across social networks and the media.
The warning has a practical consequence: doubting the integrity of an election without evidence can lead part of the public to view a process as fraudulent. In the face of that suspicion, Vallés defended that citizens can vote normally both in person and by mail.
The issue becomes more relevant in an electoral period, when any message about fraud can circulate much faster than official explanations. The responsibility of the parties, according to the logic of his remarks, is not limited to mobilizing their voters, but also to not eroding trust in the system without evidence.
From Journalism to the World of Espionage
The visit to El Hormiguero also served to introduce Espías: clave secreta, the Onda Cero Podcast documentary series in which Vallés revisits stories of double agents, covert operations, and betrayals of the twentieth century with a thriller-like approach.
The journalist explained that he is drawn to the figure of the spy because he shares with the reporter a constant relationship with information, albeit with opposite goals. While the agent conveys his knowledge to specific people who must know it, the journalist tries to bring it to the wider society.
Among the cases addressed by the project is Joan Pujol García, the Catalan who built a fictitious network of agents and managed to convince the Nazi leadership that the Allied landing would take place in Calais rather than Normandy. He also spoke of the so-called Soviet illegal spies, sent to other countries with civilian identities and activated after years of seemingly normal life.
Kim Philby, the Mole Who Sought Other Moles
Asked for his favorite spy, Vallés chose Kim Philby, a member of Britain’s secret service who worked for the Soviet Union. His case encapsulates one of the most intriguing aspects of espionage: for a period he was tasked with locating Soviet infiltrators inside MI6 while he himself acted as a mole.
The conversation also turned to current intelligence services. Vallés mentioned Mossad’s ability to obtain information about Arab countries considered enemies of Israel, the CIA’s knowledge about Russia, and the role of the CNI in the fight against ETA and, subsequently, against Islamist terrorism.
Between promoting his new project and analyzing current events, the interview left a common idea: both espionage and politics depend on how information is obtained, interpreted, and communicated. In the case of housing decrees and postal voting, Vallés placed the problem squarely in the realm of public trust.
