It is "time to hand over to a new generation -- younger, with a lot of energy -- that can, with determination, take on and carry out the changes that the current situation demands, and to face with intensity and determination the challenges of tomorrow," he said in a televised statement, according to a CNN translation.
"The long, deep economic crisis we are going through has left a lot of scars socially, but it has also pointed toward a future of hope," he said.
Crown Prince Felipe, 46, will succeed his father. The King said he decided it was "time to prepare and pave the way so that he who is in better conditions can continue."
Prince Felipe is "stable" and has "the maturity, the preparation, and the sense of responsibility necessary" to serve as king and "to lead to a new stage of hope using his experience and the drive of a new generation," King Juan Carlos added.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy first announced the King's decision.
Spaniards generally hold King Juan Carlos, 76, in high regard for his service to the nation and his defense of democracy after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.
But the King's popularity took a hit in 2012 over a controversial elephant-hunting trip to Africa while the nation was mired in a deep economic crisis.
The focus of his reign was to bring about reconciliation between Spaniards of different political persuasions and from different regions.
Many consider the King's finest hour to be his decisive stand to halt a right-wing military coup in 1981, when he went on television to say that the monarchy would not tolerate attempts to interrupt democracy by force.
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