"Pan's Labyrinth" first opened in which nation?

“Pan’s Labyrinth” first opened in Spain.

Guillermo del Toro’s dark fantasy had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 27, 2006, but its first general theatrical release came in Spain on October 11, 2006. That distinction explains why some references mention France while the standard release-history answer is Spain.

The film is set in Francoist Spain in 1944, several years after the Spanish Civil War. It follows Ofelia, a young girl who escapes into a mythic underworld while living with her authoritarian stepfather, Captain Vidal. Its original Spanish title is “El laberinto del fauno.”

The Spanish setting is not incidental: del Toro combines fairy-tale imagery with the country’s postwar political violence. The film was a Spanish-Mexican production and went on to receive six Academy Award nominations, winning three, including awards for cinematography, art direction and makeup.