Cookies

What are cookies?

Cookies are inoffensive text files which are stored in your browser when you visit a website. Through cookies the website will remember you for your next visit. Even if people often do not know it, cookies have been used for more than 20 years.

Cookies are not….

Cookies are neither viruses, nor Trojans, worms, spams nor spyware, and they do not open pop-up windows.

Which type of information do they store?

Cookies do not store personal information about you, such as credit cards, bank details, photographs, Passport numbers or any other personal data. They only store technical details, personal preferences, personalised content, etc.

The server does not identify you as a person, it identifies your browser. For example, if you always use Internet Explorer, and you visit a website through a different browser, such as Google Chrome, the website will not identify you as being the same person, as the cookies only identify the browser.

Which are the different types of cookies?

• Technical cookies : these are the most basic cookies, and they are used, for example, to find out if the user is a person or a machine, or if it is a registered user or not. These are basic tasks for the normal functioning of any dynamic website.
• Analysis cookies : They store information about your experience, which sections you visit, the products you see, time of day when you surf the web, language, etc
• Advertising cookies : they will show you advertisements adapted to your previous searches, your country, your language, etc.

What are OWN COOKIES and THIRD PARTY COOKIES?

We call own cookies those created by the website you are visiting; third party cookies are those created by other services or external providers such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.

What happens if I block the use of cookies?

Please find below some examples of what happens when you block the use of cookies :

• You cannot share any contents of that website in any social network such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• The website cannot adapt the contents to your personal preferences, for example, when you shop online.
• You are unable to access your personal area of the website : my account, my profile, my orders..
• Online shops : you will not be able to shop online, you will have to do it by phone or in the shop.
• It will not be possible to customize your personal preferences related to your location such as time, currency, language, etc.
• The website will be unable to make statistics about the visits and traffic of the web, and therefore the website will be less competitive.
• You will not be able to write on a blog, or upload photos, write comments, etc. The website will not know if you are a human or a machine.
• The website will not show you advertisements related to your personal preferences.
• All the social networks use cookies, if you block them you will not be able to use any of those networks.

Can I disable cookies?

Yes, you can disable them and you can also block cookies in general or for a specific website.

To disable cookies you must change the settings of your browser, where you can choose the cookies associated to the website you wish to disable.

Cookies settings for the most popular browsers

Please follow the instructions below to access cookies on Google Chrome. (Notice : these instructions can change depending on the version of the browser)

Go to settings or preferences by clicking on the menu button, or the customization icon at the top right side.

1. There are several options, choose Show advanced settings
2. Go to Privacy, Content settings
3. Select All the cookies and website data
4. The computer will show a list of all the cookies, ordered by domain. There is also an option to Search cookies, where you can write the address of the website.
5. After this, the computer will show a list of all the cookies of the website chosen. You just need to select the ones that you wish to delete by clicking on the X.

Please follow the instructions below to access cookies on Internet Explorer . (Notice: these instructions can change depending on the version of the browser)

1. Click on Settings, Internet options
2. Click on
3. Scroll up or down the button to select the privacy level you wish.

Please follow the instructions below to access cookies on Mozilla Firefox. (Notice: these instructions can change depending on the version of the browser)

1. Go to Settings or Preferences, depending on your operating system
2. Click on Privacy
3. In History choose Use personalized settings for history

Now you will see the option Accept cookies, you can turn it on or off depending on your preferences.

Please follow the instructions below to access cookies on Safari OSX browser. (Notice : these instructions can change depending on the version of the browser)

1. Go to Preferences, then click on Privacy
2. Here you will find the option to Disable cookies so you can set how you wish to block the cookies.

Please follow the instructions below to access cookies on Safari iOS browser (Notice : these instructions can change depending on the version of the browser)

1. Go to Settings, then
2. Go to Privacy and Security, where you will find the option Turn off cookies, to set how you wish to block the cookies.

Please follow the instructions below to access cookies settings for any Android devices (steps can change depending on the version of the browser)

1. Enter into the browser and then click on the Menu button, then Settings.
2. Go to Privacy and Security, and you will see the option Accept cookies, you can tick or untick the box

Please follow the instructions below to access cookies settings for Windows phone (steps can change depending on the version of the browser)

1. Open Internet Explorer, then More, then Settings
2. You can turn cookies on or off.