Tears, emotion and mourning in the farewell to Jesús of Miguel Alameda, the CD Tenerife forward who died on Tuesday after suffering a violent collision with Jesús Owono, Andorra goalkeeper. “Demi, today we have to say goodbye to you with a broken heart,” read a tearful Enric Gallego, captain and top scorer of the club, in a speech read on a stage on the grass of the Heliodoro Rodríguez López stadium, “but also giving thanks for having met you.” This Saturday, the blue and white entity and several thousand fans said goodbye to the athlete in an emotional event held on the Santa Cruz grass. De Miguel suffered accidental chest trauma caused by a hit by goalkeeper Jesús Owono on Monday. Throughout the event, a shirt with the number 9 and a bouquet of flowers veiled the exact point where the impact between both footballers occurred.
The event was attended, among other authorities, by the vice president of the Canary Islands, Manuel Domínguez; the president of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Dávila; the mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez; the president of CD Tenerife, Felipe Miñambres; the club's largest shareholder, Rayco García; the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Rafael Louzán, and the president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas. Delegations from several clubs have also attended, such as Real Madrid or UD Las Palmas, as well as the entity's first team.
“His story was that of a persevering athlete, generous in his efforts and dedicated to his colors,” said the presenter of the event, the former Tenerife journalist and politician José Manuel Pitti. “Jesus came to Tenerife to score goals and ended up conquering our hearts.” The team captain, Enric Gallego, went out of his way to talk about the person. “We want to talk about you, about Jesus, about Demi, about the person behind that shirt,” Gallego read. He described him as a “simple, discreet, natural and approachable player, who never sought to be a protagonist.” His hardest moment came at the end. "Today we have to do something we would never have imagined: talk about you in the past tense. It's tremendously unfair," he said. “Your departure has reminded us how fragile life is.”
The president of the club, former player Felipe Miñambres, recalled that he met the forward in 2019, when he played with his son at Unión Adarve. Therefore, before signing him in 2025, he asked his son what he was like. “He told me ‘he is very shy, introverted, but a very good companion and a very good person,” he said. "And that was Demi. A companion of those who seem not to be there, but they are."
Both Gallego and Miñambres and the club's largest shareholder, Rayco García, had special words of affection for María, the widow; and Carla, De Miguel's daughter, to whom they promised help and company. “We cannot imagine the pain you are experiencing,” Gallego confessed. "And we are not trying to find words that can alleviate it, because we know that they do not exist. But we want you to keep something in mind: you are not alone. Here you have a family, your pain is also ours."
Tribute events for Demi have taken place throughout the weekend throughout all the stadiums where League matches have been played. The starters of each team are jumping dressed in a special jersey with the number 9 and the motto “Always in our memory.” Before the initial whistle, a minute of silence is observed. In addition, the matches are interrupted at minute 9 - the number worn by the Madrid athlete - to make way for the projection of a video on the video scoreboards. This Sunday, Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, the eternal rival of the Tenerife team, will play its match against Eldense wearing the white and blue characteristic of Tenerife.
