  We present optical R-band light curves of the gravitationally lensed quasar
SBS1520+530 derived from data obtained at the Nordic Optical Telescope. A time
delay of 130+/-3 days (1 sigma) is determined from the light curves. In
addition, spectra of SBS1520+530 obtained at the Keck Observatory are spatially
deconvolved in order to extract the spectrum of the faint lensing galaxy, free
of any contamination by the light from the bright quasar images. This spectrum
indicates a lens redshift z=0.717, in agreement with one of the absorption
systems found in the quasar spectra. The best mass model of the system includes
a second nearby galaxy and a cluster of galaxies in addition to the main
lensing galaxy. Adopting this model and an Omega=0.3, Lambda=0.7 cosmology, our
time-delay measurement yields a Hubble constant of H_0=51+/- 9, km/s/Mpc (1
sigma error).
