Locals in Bilbao say an art museum helped save their Spanish city from decline. Now they are glad to know their savior, the Guggenheim, will be staying for some time.

With the initial lease set to expire, the US-based Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation on Dec 9 announced it was signing on to run its museum in the northern port city for another 20 years.

That was double the period previously envisaged for the new contract, and for those involved it was another sign that the museum satellite is a winning formula.