The town's name is ofArabic origin, coming fromal-aquas (الأقواس), meaning "the arches", believed to be a reference to a bridge of Moorish origin near the town.
In 2008, Alaquàs was mainly employed in industry (45% of those) and services (53%). Agriculture, with just over 2% of those employed, is a residual sector. In the same year, there were 134 hectares of irrigated land, specifically dedicated to citrus (99 ha) and herbaceous crops (35 ha).
Specialization in bricks and jars gave way to the wood (furniture) industry, metal products manufacture and the food industry. The industrial land occupies about 160 ha, divided between El Bovalar (32 ha; west), Els Mollons and other isolated enclaves. The sectoral distribution of companies was: 59% in the industrial sector, 24% in business services, 9% in consumer services, 3% in agri-food and the remaining 5% in other services.
Alaquàs is located inl'Horta, an area known as the red belt (Valencian:cinturó roig) due to its tendency to vote for left wing parties.[2] The Communist Party of Spain won most seats at the 1979 local election and remained strong in the area until the 1990s when they declined, losing their last seat at the 1995 elections. The People's Party received the most votes for the first time at the 2011 local elections.
*Results for theCommunist Party of Spain. In 1986 they joined with other parties to form the current United Left.
#In 1983, thePeople's Alliance (AP),Democratic Popular Party (PDP), Liberal Union (UL) and Valencian Union (UV) formed a four party electoral alliance. The electoral alliance ended in 1986 and the AP and UV contested the 1987 local elections separately. In 1989 the AP merged with the PDP and UL to form the current People's Party.
†Results for the Valencian People's Union, who later formed the Valencian Nationalist Bloc (BNV).
Village festivals (held from the end of August to the beginning of September), which include, among others, theCorrefocs,Moros i Cristians andEl Cant de la Carxofa.
Falles (held on March). Alaquàs has 11 commissions and its own prizes.