I think wrapping a div with an <a> element is now valid, you probably want to only wrap inline elements like a <span> with an <a> when possible. Imo it's a better practice.
It also avoids having large "white space" areas that are clickable, when only the text should be clickable. (Like when you wrap an <h1> with an <a> for example.)
To add on, clickable whitespace is more of a feature than a bug generally now, because at least in mobile-web world the worst possible thing you could do is make your touch target extremely small by making it only the icon rather than a standard touch target size centered on said icon.
It also avoids having large "white space" areas that are clickable, when only the text should be clickable. (Like when you wrap an <h1> with an <a> for example.)