MADRID, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Spain's former King Juan Carlos I on Monday announced his decision to leave Spain to live in another country in a letter to his son, King Felipe VI.

The decision taken by Juan Carlos I, who abdicated in 2014, came amid a judicial investigation into possible financial irregularities.

The probe looks into money laundering and tax avoidance related to the former king's foreign bank accounts, according to El Pais newspaper.

In the letter -- published by the Spanish Royal Household -- Juan Carlos I wrote that "in the face of the public repercussion which are being generated by certain events in the past," he would leave the country in order to "facilitate" the work of his son.

"A year ago I expressed my will to no longer carry out institutional activities; now, guided by the need to do my best service to the Spanish, to their institutions and to you as King, I am communicating my considered decision to move, at this moment, away from Spain," read the letter.

The letter didn't mention where the former monarch will reside.

The Royal Household expressed its "respect and gratitude at this decision" and highlighted Juan Carlos I' role in Spain's transition from the military rule of General Francisco Franco to democracy in the late 1970s and 1980s. Enditem

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