The W, in all its magnitude, has become a real possibility. After the economic collapse due to covid and a recovery that raised complex calligraphic debates, but in the end left what looked like the symbol for a square root on growth charts, the Russian invasion of Ukraine may once again push Europe into recession. As this would be the second recession, the blows received by the European economy would leave us with a curve closer to a W, a situation already experienced when the 2008 financial and real estate crisis was followed by the even worse relapse of the 2012 public debt crisis.

The macroeconomic data with which this week ends mark a turning point. The way out of the crisis is beginning to gain momentum, even solidity. The recovery is moving from wishful thinking to reality. If Thursday the Labour Force Survey (EPA) came loaded with positive data for the labour market, with a fall, in the Catalan case, of 21,200 fewer unemployed people and an unemployment rate that stood at 12.28% (Spanish data were also good), this Friday the National Institute of State Statistics has advanced the gross domestic product (GDP), which, despite some issues, remains the main indicator to measure the economy: and again there are figures for optimism. State GDP grew by 2.8% over the first three months of 2021, and in comparison with a year earlier, that is, with the second quarter of 2020, when the economy experienced a sharp fall due to the strictest lockdown, the climb is 19.8%, one of the strongest ever recorded.