NAVAHERMOSA, Spain — The parish church of San Miguel Arcángel, already large for a village of just 3,500 residents, was too small Thursday when hundreds of mourners gathered inside and outside to say goodbye to Jesús de Miguel, the CD Tenerife footballer known as Demi, who died Tuesday after a heavy collision with an opponent, El Periódico reported.
The Toledo town where the player’s family lives has ordered three days of official mourning, lowering flags to half-staff—a sign of the deep grief over his death.
A village of 3,500 turns out in force
Traffic and visitors on the streets of Navahermosa were far heavier than usual from early morning, according to El Periódico. The municipal funeral home served as the first meeting point for relatives, close friends and sports figures paying their respects before moving to the church for the funeral Mass.
The hearse arrived at 2:55 p.m., followed by a procession of hundreds of people — family, neighbors, footballers and institutional representatives — dressed in black, with serious faces, quiet conversation and tears, El Periódico reported. The coffin was received at the church door by the rector and Demi’s own teammates before being carried inside.
Tenerife president Felipe Miñambres publicly vowed: “We need to give Demi the tribute he deserves, and from that point on, we will always carry him in our hearts.” The club is also arranging professional psychological support for the squad and their families to help them cope…
So many people attended that hundreds had to follow the ceremony from outside the church. The Mass lasted more than an hour and ended with three rounds of applause, after which everyone accompanied the coffin on the final walk to the cemetery.
Spanish football’s leadership gathers in Toledo
Among those who traveled to Navahermosa were some of the leading figures of Spanish football, El Periódico reported: Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, accompanied by Emilio Butragueño and former player Rubén de la Red; Atlético de Madrid CEO Miguel Ángel Gil Marín; former national team coach José Antonio Camacho; and David Aganzo, president of the Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE). Also present were Rafael Louzán, president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, and national team coach Luis de la Fuente.
The presence of Demi’s Tenerife teammates was especially emotional. They traveled from the Canary Islands together with the coaching staff, led by Álvaro Cervera, and club officials headed by president Felipe Miñambres. Other players who shared a dressing room with him during his career also attended, including Giorgi Kochorashvili, now of Sevilla and a former teammate at Castellón, whose club also sent a delegation to Navahermosa.
From Madrid to Navahermosa: a family rooted in the village
Although Demi was born in Madrid, he spent numerous summers in Navahermosa, where his family maintains strong roots. Two neighbors, Mari and Pili, told El Periódico that the family are “from the village all their lives, they have several businesses and are very well known,” and recalled: “He came for the holidays, we all knew him.” The news of his death has been a hard blow for those who grew up seeing him in the village streets — “They are devastated,” the two women said.
For a town of 3,500 people, the scale of Thursday’s farewell — a packed church, a procession of hundreds and the arrival of the leadership of Spanish football — shows the reach of a player whose career took him from Madrid to the Canary Islands, and whose summers kept him tied to this corner of Toledo.
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