Podcast Summary

Podcast: Hoy por Hoy
Episode: La mirada | Maruja Torres: "Dejadme fantasear"
Host: Àngels Barceló
Date: November 5, 2025

Overview

This episode features the section "La mirada," conceptualized and voiced by renowned writer and journalist Maruja Torres. In her signature satirical and imaginative style, Torres offers a critical and fantastical commentary on current Spanish politics, focusing on various public personalities—including political leaders—and their recent actions, while weaving in playful cultural references. The segment invites listeners to question reality through the lens of fantasy and irony, highlighting the surreal nature of sociopolitical news in Spain.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Satire on Political Health and Responsibility

• Maruja opens by referencing a public figure, señor Mazón, wishing him well pending medical advice ([00:08]), and segues into a darkly humorous musing about possible psychological diagnoses.
• Quote:

  "Dejadme fantasear con la idea de que no le diagnosticará depresión profunda a causa del dolor que le producen los muertos ni su contribución a la tragedia."
  — Maruja Torres [00:17]

2. Parodic Scenario: The Woody Allen Film Treatment

• Torres invents a surreal film scenario merging Spanish political drama with Woody Allen's neurotic universe. She imagines public funds being used by a Madrid politician, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, to finance Allen's filmmaking in Valencia.
• Suggests a movie scene where an ex-president, in existential crisis, strolls by the Turia river, soundtracked by Nacho Cano, questioning his role and blaming the world for his plight ([00:35]).
• Quote:

  "Permitidme que piense que le dirá que tiene que cuidarse de algo propio del neurosis, paranoia, manía persecutoria, alucinaciones."
  — Maruja Torres [00:25]

• Woody Allen imagined as bewildered and overwhelmed by the Spanish context, echoing his own film personas.

3. Madrid’s Political Satire as Relationship Farce

• The narrative shifts to Madrid, with a couple in heated, Allen-esque neurotic argument, debating motives (love, money, or commissions) against the backdrop of luxury and political scandal ([00:50]).
• The humor continues as Tony Cantó is cast as a silent butler, adding to the farce, serving classic Madrid dishes like "cocido de lardi"—a nod to traditionalism layered with social critique ([01:10]).

4. Absurdist Climax: Formula 1 in the Film Set

• Torres escalates the fantasy by having Formula 1 cars—symbolizing reckless modernity—burst through the film set, disrupting the scene and humorously endangering even the butler ([01:20]).
• Quote:

  "¿Qué es eso? ¿El apocalipsis? Se preguntaría la conciencia. No, son los bólidos de Fórmula 1 que en mi fantasía atravesarían brutalmente el plató sin darse cuenta de que se llevaban por delante hasta el mayordomo."
  — Maruja Torres [01:30]

5. Concluding Tone

• Maruja’s piece closes in mid-fantasy, leaving listeners with the image of a chaotic, nearly apocalyptic Spain, blending real political critique with playful, dream-like absurdity.

Memorable Quotes with Timestamps

• "Dejadme fantasear con la idea de que no le diagnosticará depresión profunda a causa del dolor que le producen los muertos ni su contribución a la tragedia."
  • Maruja Torres [00:17]
• "Permitidme que piense que le dirá que tiene que cuidarse de algo propio del neurosis, paranoia, manía persecutoria, alucinaciones."
  • Maruja Torres [00:25]
• "Woody Allen rodara en Valencia al menos una secuencia centrada en un monólogo del Expresidente paseando Turia arriba, Turia abajo, con fondo musical de Nacho Cano diciéndose: ¿Por qué? ¿Qué he hecho? ¿Qué quieren de mí? El mundo está loco, la culpa es de los demás."
  • Maruja Torres [00:40]
• "¿Qué es eso? ¿El apocalipsis? Se preguntaría la conciencia. No, son los bólidos de Fórmula 1 que en mi fantasía atravesarían brutalmente el plató sin darse cuenta de que se llevaban por delante hasta el mayordomo."
  • Maruja Torres [01:30]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:08] – Introduction and well-wishing to señor Mazón, segue into fantasy
• [00:25] – On psychological diagnoses and mental health satire
• [00:40] – Woody Allen as a director in Valencia, monologue scene
• [00:50] – Transition to Madrid: neurotic relationship parody
• [01:10] – Appearance of Tony Cantó as the butler, Madrid culinary references
• [01:20] – Formula 1 disruption, fantasy climax

Tone and Style

Maruja Torres employs biting irony, wild imagination, and cultural references, blending real events with fantasy to provide sociopolitical critique wrapped in humor. Her language is vivid, irreverent, and playfully subversive—a hallmark of her literary voice.

Summary:
In this episode, Maruja Torres invites listeners to join her in an irreverent, fantastical meditation on the surreal elements of Spanish political life, using wit and imagination to illuminate the absurdity and contradictions of the present moment. The result is insightful, darkly funny, and as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.