At the end of 1936 Manuel left for Latin America under an assumed name with the theater company of
Josefina Díaz Artigas. He first went to Cuba, but in 1938 visited Mexico City for a commission designing the bar at Ciro's. This was the elegant restaurant inside the Reforma Hotel; the first modern hotel in Mexico. The structure was "a truly imposing wooden ellipse... which was at that time called 'the largest bar in the world'." He also decorated other luxury establishments, including the Ambassadeurs restaurant, by the Catalan
Dalmau Costa i Vilanova. Through the gatherings at the cafeteria "Hotel Regis" he came into contact with many of the figures of Mexican cinema, who convinced him to stay in Mexico City and work in the film industry. There he met and married the aristocrat
Diane de Subervielle, president of the film company
Films Mundiales. He founded his own film decoration company, Escenografía de Manuel Fontanals, with which he achieved great prestige, working with the best actors and directors of Mexican cinema:
Dolores del Río,
María Félix,
Mario Moreno Cantinflas,
Emilio Fernández,
Roberto Gavaldón,
Jaime Salvador,
Carlos Velo Cobelas,
José Díaz Morales,
Ramón Pereda and
Ramón Peón. He was a prominent member of the Union of Film Production Workers and the Association of Film Journalists of Mexico. In 1946 he was a co-founder of the
Mexican Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was awarded the prestigious Ariel Prize in 1947, 1949 and 1972. A number of films he worked on in Mexico were shown and given awards in his homeland of Spain during his exile, but the government always excised his name from the screen and awards ceremonies. In later life, while his company mainly did B-movies, Manuel designed a few houses for friends to stay creatively active. After his wife died Manuel burned all his personal documents, house plans, architectural renderings, home decor designs, photographs, set designs and correspondence. Exiled from his home country, he wished to vanish without a trace; though his houses still stand and the hundreds of films he set designed are still seen. After the final film he worked on,
The Castle of Purity was completed, he gave the only known interview of his life, published in This Magazine (September 10, 1972). He died one week later. Much of what is known of his life and career was gathered by
Rosa Peralta Gilabert from his collaborators and supporting documents for her biography on him. His work in cinema is extensive and includes 247 sets, or sets and costumes, not counting those made for the theater. ==Works for the Theater==